Touhou Tsukuribanashi
by WriterRoxas
Summary: Reimu Hakurei has been captured by a mysterious girl, who seems to want Gensokyo destroyed. Can Marisa, Mima and Genji save her in time, and find out her reason for doing this?
1. Chapter 1  Long Haired Assailant

It was times like these that Reimu Hakurei felt at peace.

The young shrine maiden sighed blissfully as she soaked herself in the bath, letting the warmth enter her body. Her eyes were closed, as Reimu was feeling somewhat sleepy. She knew that eventually she would have to crawl out of the hot bath. But for now, she was content.

Reimu was the Shrine Maiden, or Miko, of the Hakurei Shrine, located in Gensokyo. Not many people came to visit, given that it was quite a challenge to travel to, mountainous paths and mischievous or diabolical Fairy Youkai providing much of it. It was a shame too, Reimu didn't get much company, aside from the wise talking turtle, Genji... and them.

Slowly opening her eyes, Reimu looked up at the ceiling, taking quite a long moment to register that someone - or something - was floating above her.

The thing wore a grin brimming with ill intentions. "I have you now, Shrine Maiden!" It screeched, suddenly lunging at her.

Taken off guard, Reimu shrieked with equal volume, desperately clambering over the side of her bathtub to escape her assailant. Her weapons were in a completely different room, leaving her defenseless.

Shivering from the sudden cold, Reimu faced the assailant, who had stopped short of tackling her and was busy giggling.

Reimu's surprise turned to embarrassment and anger when she recognised the distinctive laugh and green hair.

"Mima!" Reimu growled, apparently unaware that she was currently naked. Not that it mattered much. Mima was female and a Youkai. It's not like there was any interest in Reimu's body.

Mima, the spirit who had 'attacked' Reimu, continued to laugh. "That was too easy! You were completely open!"

Mima wore a flowing blue robe, and a small, blue, pointed cap over her dark green hair. She also had an air of superiority around her, as if others were mere insects to her. Of course, being defeated by Reimu once or twice didn't do much to change that, annoyingly enough.

"Sorry, I don't normally have reason to defend myself when bathing." Reimu growled, her wet, purple hair growing colder by the second. The colour was neither natural nor dyed (After all, hair dye didn't exist in Gensokyo), but the result of a fairy curse from her childhood. She accidentally swatted one, and this was her 'ultimate punishment'.

Mima was a Soul, but apparently not the spirit of a deceased human. According to Mima, she was simply a soul who came to be one day. Only four years ago, Reimu and Mima had met as enemies.

That time, Reimu's shrine had been destroyed by someone, and during Reimu's rampage to 'Hell', she ran across Mima. Mima had nothing to do with her Shrine's destruction, but saw Reimu as an enemy regardless. Reimu, at the time, had next to no experience fighting Youkai, relying completely on her ancestral weapon, the 'Hakurei Ying Yang Orb', which possessed insane amounts of power. It was through that object that Reimu landed a lucky strike, forcing Mima to retreat and allowing Reimu to continue on her search for the culprit.

Roughly a year later, with the culprit soundly beaten and her Shrine restored (thanks to the help of the village locals, who may or may not have been conscripted into rebuilding), Reimu and Mima had met again. That time, Mima had claimed she wanted revenge, keeping details unbelievably vague.

She also had an apprentice magician, Marisa. Having quite a bit more experience and control over her abilities from the previous years' battles, Reimu managed to defeat Mima and Marisa in combat.

Ever since then, Mima just sort of hung around the shrine. Most of her time was spent annoying or scaring Reimu, which was odd. It was like that whole 'revenge' motif was forgotten. Maybe it was a lie just to find an excuse to fight? Maybe this was her revenge? Well, who cared? Right now, Mima was just being a bother. Sure, they may have had an adventure or two together, but those times their goals had coincidentally matched.

"Honestly, why can't you act mature?" Reimu groaned, grabbing a bathrobe from a rack on the nearby wall, slipping it on.

Mima grinned. "Mature? Of course I'm mature. It was a simple test, to see if you could react to surprise attacks!"

"Okay, sure." Reimu sighed, knowing that wasn't the case. Draining the water from the tub Reimu wished she hadn't been forced to vacate, the young Miko marched to her front room, passing by the sleeping Genji and into the kitchen.

_Stupid old turtle, couldn't even hear the noise from one room away? _Reimu muttered as she passed.

There, she began to make some tea, while Mima 'sat' a table in the front room. After a few moments, Reimu approached with a tray holding three cups and a tea kettle, along with some teabags and milk.

"Three cups?" Mima noted as Reimu poured the tea.

Another oddity of Mima. Despite not being a creature with a physical body, nor the need to eat or drink, she could do that just fine. Reimu suspected that questioning Mima of such a 'power' would only yield the answer that 'it's supposed to make you waste your resources, tee hee hee'.

"Of course. If you're here, Marisa's gonna burst in here any moment." Reimu answered with a sigh. She wondered why she put up with these two. She'd bested them in fights before, so why not kick them out?

As if on cue, the door to her shrine flew open, with a blonde haired magician marching up to Reimu and Mima. By her attitude, you'd think she owned the place. Reimu poured the last of the tea into the third cup, and set it aside for the approaching witch.

"Heya~!" Marisa greeted, wearing purple robes with a matching, pointed hat (Complete with a crescent moon brooch pinned to the front), and a broomstick in hand. "Found ya, Lady Mima~"

Marisa, the human apprentice of Mima, was a bit of an odd one. She had a penchant for stealing all kinds of things (Or 'borrowing', as she put it) and always flew around on a broom, even though she could fly just fine. In fact, it _was_ her flying! The broom was just for show. Keeping up the 'witch' appearance and all that.

"So you did." Mima replied, sipping some tea. Not the greatest she ever had, but it was at least adequate. Not that she'd tell the Miko that.

Setting her broom on the floor beside her, Marisa took the third cup for herself, Marisa gulped the scalding liquid down as if it were cool water. Reimu had never seen anything like it, and she'd seen some really messed up Youkai before.

"So, any reason why you had to interrupt my bath time, which directly preceeds my bed time?" Reimu asked the two.

Marisa and Mima glanced at each other, seemingly confused. "Reason? What're you talking about?" Marisa asked.

Reimu glared at them. "You know, the purpose of bothering me at this time? I can barely tolerate your visits during the day, but bothering me now is rather annoying."

"I thought this place was open 24/7?" Marisa asked. Reimu sighed once again.

"Yes, to people who seek spiritual advice, not to bothersome idiots."

"Such a kind hearted Shrine Maiden you are." Mima said sarcastically, and sipped more tea. "You'd think it'd make you happy to actually have visitors for a change."

Reimu scowled at her words. It was sadly true, these two were the only actual visitors Reimu had for a long, long time. Maybe that was why she put up with them?

"Oh, by the way Lady Mima!" Marisa piped up, beaming at the Soul. "I've been developing this awesome new spell, I think it'll exceed your expectations!"

Mima raised an eyebrow at her apprentice. "Will it now? Let's hope so, that last spell you devised..." She glanced at Reimu. "...Fell far short of them."

Mima was referring to the last time Reimu and Marisa had battled, where Marisa had devised some sort of barrier made of four orbs that would chase Reimu down and pummel her. That didn't work too well against Reimu's counter spell, sending copies of her Ying Yang Orb to block and then target Marisa.

Undettered, Marisa took of her hat, taking out a slip of paper from the inside. Reimu recognised it straight away - A Spell Card.

Spell Cards were 'tools' used mostly by human magician's, or anything who had a poor magic casting ability. They allowed the user to channel magic into the card in order to produce the desired effect. They were essentially crutches until the user managed to cast the spell without the Card. They were also useful for replicatinf or creating entirely new spells.

Of course, someone like Marisa happened to have a knack for making new spells, or replicating them. Reimu was curious as to what the spell could be.

"Come on outside, I'll show ya!" Marisa said excitedly, rushing back outside. Mima drank the last of her tea and glided after her, with Reimu close behind.

In retrospect, it probably wasn't wise to walk outside on a cold night with nothing but a bathrobe, but it was only for a few moments anyway.

Marisa led them through the small courtyard in front of the sign. A cobble stone pathway led from Reimu's shrine to a set of stone steps descending towards the village. The amount of steps was probably a deterrent to visitors, annoyingly enough.

Once an adequate distance from the Shrine was acquired, Marisa fished a Spellcard from her robes. With an excited grin, she raised it above her head.

"Starlight Duster!" Marisa declared, as the paper glowed a light pink. Suddenly, several small, pink, star-shaped bullets began to form in the air and surround Marisa, circling her. The number of stars grew rapidly, until she was almost obscured, before they suddenly shot out in all directions, stopping short of Mima and Reimu, as well as the trees and shrine around her.

Reimu and Mima watched the wave of bullets, noting that they moved in such a way to make avoiding them virtually impossible. It seemed like some sort of trap, leaving the smallest of gaps one may squeeze through, only to realize that the opening was far smaller than expected, and you found yourself horribly battered from all angles.

Once the stars had finished their course, they vanished, leaving Marisa to stand proudly. "So? What d'you think, Lady Mima?"

Mima shrugged almost dismissively. "It's a fine pattern, I suppose. Still, there are some gaps one may find."

"Really?" Both Marisa and Remu asked. Marisa couldn't seem to comprehend any weaknesses to her spell, while Reimu was surprised Mima spotted what she herself hadn't. In the last four years, Reimu had become almost godlike in spotting blind spots in spells shot at her, no matter how immensely overwhelming they were.

"Like right here." A voice spoke from somewhere, alerting all three of them. Before any of them could so much as twitch, however, Marisa was struck by a pale orange beam, striking her shoulder and spearing right through her.

Marisa didn't scream, but her eyes widened in surprise as she fell to her knees, her left hand shooting towards the wound in her right shoulder.

"Marisa!" Reimu yelled, making to run to the witch's side. Mima however, glared at the source of the voice and spell that hurt her apprentice.

She was an odd one, the assailant. She had bright orange hair that she seemed to wear as some sort of cloak. It literally covered most of her body, leaving only her face and arms exposed. Her legs were occasionally seen as the breeze twitched her hair.

"You! Care to explain why you attack us?" Mima asked the girl with the insanely long hair, her voice colder than the night air. Mima didn't like being snuck up on, nor did she like having her apprentice attacked and subdued so easily.

The orange haired girl glared at the group, or rather, at Reimu. The Miko was checking the wound left by the spell, which left no blood, but a lot of pain, if Marisa's pale and shocked complexion was any indication.

_And I still don't have my weapons... _Reimu thought in irritation as she spared a glance at the attacker.

"Answer me, insect!" Mima demanded from the girl.

Mouth twitching into a small smile, she spoke to Reimu. "You are the Shrine Maiden of Hakurei Shrine, correct?"

"You have to ask?" Reimu asked, trying to sound intimidating despite being freezing in her bath robe without any weaponry. Suffice to say, she was less than successful.

"You dare ignore me?" Mima growled, a light flashing in her hands. In an instant, a staff topped with a crescent moon was in her hands.

Pointing her staff at the intruder, she sent dozens of small, star shaped bullets at her.

Grinning in amusement, the girl weaved effortlessly between the objects, her hair seemingly parting of its own accord to dodge the bullets. Thankfully, the girl wore a scarlet one piece costume underneath all that hair, so nothing was revealed.

Practically dancing closer and closer, Mima growled and sent a fresh volley of bullet like objects towards her, larger and far more random in trajectory.

Even this was in vain, for the mysterious girl still slipped between them, eventually coming face to face with a surprised Mima. "Pathetic. I thought you were almighty?"

Before Mima could reply, she was knocked back by one of the girl's spells. Mima flew at high speeds towards the steps that led to the shrine's courtyard, passing the large red archway that acted as a 'gateway' to the Shrine.

The hair-dressed girl turned to face Reimu and Marisa. The Shrine Maiden glared defiantly at the attacker, wondering what exactly she could do. That girl had disabled Marisa and easily beaten Mima! Her power was formidable, and Reimu was currently defenceless.

Panting and sweating heavily, Marisa stumbled to her feet, fishing a new spell card from her robes with her uninjured arm.

The girl didn't move to stop her, instead slowly walking towards the two.

"I got this..." Marisa gasped, holding the card up with a shaking hand. "No one sneaks up on the Great Witch Marisa and expects to live..."

"But, you're shoulder-" Reimu began, but Marisa went ahead with her assault.

"Quadra-Orb!" Marisa declared, and four orbs appeared around Marisa and Reimu, encircling them. A faint line could be seen connecting them.

Occasionally, they would shoot a few bullets at the girl, who would side step them effortlessly.

"Marisa, she danced circles around Mima, what makes you think you'll-" Reimu began, but was again interrupted.

"Cosmic Shot!"

From above, Mima had fired a single, large, silver beam towards the girl, who was in the process of dodging the orbs that were now lashing out at her as she drew closer. Glancing up, she was engulfed by the light.

Mima grinned with satisfaction as she struck the girl. _Served her right for her cowardly sneak attack_, Mima thought.

Marisa let her orbs disperse and she fell back to her knees, with Reimu catching her before she fell face first into the ground.

"Hey, don't drop dead on me, okay?" Reimu said, surprised at how worried she was over someone who was kind of her enemy. Kind of? Were they? The last few years kind of blurred that stance.

The light from Mima's spell faded, allowing the group to see the remains of the assailant. The surprised looks from everyone indicated that the remains were composed mainly of an uninjured enemy and the bright red and orange flames that surrounded her.

"A bomb spell?" Mima gasped. "When did she-"

The flames parted, allowing the girl to grin devilishly at Mima, before the flames suddenly shot towards her.

Cursing, the Soul tried to fly back and evade the flames, but they easily caught up and surrounded her, flames licking at her ethereal body and apparently consuming her.

When the flames died, Mima emerged looking horribly burned. She panted heavily, her clothing mostly burned and melted away. her body was unmarked, but searing with pain.

"You... You impudent little-!" Mima gasped, before succumbing to her injuries and falling to the ground, passed out.

Marisa watched in awe as her master was defeated humiliatingly easily. That wasn't possible! Even Reimu struggled to defeat Mima, and this person - no, she had to be a Youkai - had wiped the floor with her without even trying!

"Come with me please, Shrine Maiden." The girl spoke, holding a hand out to Reimu. Her voice, Reimu noticed, actually sounded rather sweet and friendly, but overlapped with a much more aggressive and assertive tone. Like two different people talking at once.

"What do you want?" Reimu asked. She would have sounded more demanding if she wasn't so surprised.

The girl smiled slightly at Reimu. "You, of course. Would you come with me please?"

"...What." Reimu stated. "Me? If you want a fight, give me a minute and-"

"No, no, it's not a fight with you I seek." The girl interrupted. "I want your_ life_."

Before Reimu could respond, the girl moved forward, punching her in the stomach with amazing force. Reimu doubled over, feeling her strength leave her. Her vision was darkening...

Reimu slumped into the arms of the girl, who smiled in satisfaction. Marisa growled, trying to will strength into her own body. Damn it, that wound was nothing, it shouldn't impede her so!

The girl spared a glance at the struggling Witch.

"You're her friend? I'll do you a favour and let you live. Then, feel free to come rescue the girl. I'll happily beat you fairly before I kill her, assuming you make it past my allies."

"W-wait!" Marisa called, breathing heavily. The girl ignored her, instead floating into the air, carefully carrying Reimu, and flying off South.

W-who is she? Marisa wondered, her mental voice practically snarling. Her power was unbelievable, if she was able to defeat Lady Mima so easily!

The pain flared in her shoulder as she stumbled towards Mima, hoping she wasn't fatally wounded. Or whatever the definition was for a Soul who would die from wounds.

Mima still lay unconscious, and Marisa had no strength to carry her to the Shrine. It would also be a waste of time to walk back to the Shrine to wake up the old turtle, who had slept through everything!

"Hey, useless turtle!" Marisa roared as loud as she could. "Get your stupid ass here right now!"

After a few moments and another yell or two, Genji eventually flew towards the two, looking rather annoyed. Genji was a remarkable old turtle, who also happened to be able to talk and fly. In fact, Genji was Reimu's only method of flight, since the Miko still sucked at using her own power.

"What is it? Honestly, you can't keep your irritating voice down during the-" The old turtle noticed the state the Witch and her master were in.

"W-What happened here? Were's Lady Reimu?" He asked.

"Explanations later." Marisa groaned, feeling ready to collapse. "Just carry Lady Mima to the shrine for now.

Trying her best to lift Mima onto Genji's back so he could whisk her back to the shrine, Marisa lay panting as he flew away. She didn't want to faint here, it was cold out. Struggling back to her feet, Marisa made it a few steps before Genji returned. It must have taken her forever to make those steps if he was back already.

Gratefully climbing onto the turtle's shell, Marisa felt her eyelids getting heavier and heavier. Before she passed out, Marisa thought of Reimu, and tried to identify the emotion that accompanied the image of her being carried away by the strange girl...


	2. Chapter 2  Imprisoned

**Author's Note: Yeah, I'll bet no one can unravel Rena's true identity. It's so amazingly well hidden and mysterious.**

**Anyways, to answer APH, this would be before EoSD, and the girl hasn't killed Reimu yet because she... Well, let's just say she's going for overkill.**

**To everyone else, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

When morning came, the atmosphere was less than bright, to say the least, at Hakurei Shrine.

For one thing, when Mima finally awoke, she began to loudly curse the girl who had humiliated her, storming around the place and pretty much throwing a tantrum over the whole encounter. When Genji had reminded her to form some new garments and calm down, he asked her to recount the events that happened.

All to happy to vent her anger, Mima recalled the battle last night. At its conclusion, Genji practically exploded.

"You let that girl take Lady Reimu? Do you realise what you've done!" He roared, sounding fearsome despite being a turtle. Not that he intimidated Mima in the slightest.

"What I've done?" She screamed back. "That witch cheated and knocked me out! How could I-" Mima stopped, confused for a moment, and began to search the shrine.

"... Huh, just noticed the Shrine Maiden's gone." Mima said thoughtfully.

"'Just noticed?' How could that escape your notice!" Genji roared.

"Oh yes, as if you're watchful eye didn't notice she was gone until now!" Mima shot back.

"Lady Mima didn't witness the kidnapping." The strained voice of Marisa spoke up. The magician had been woken by the commotion, and was lying in Reimu's futon, which lay in the front room. Her wound was closing rapidly, leading Genji to assume that the wound was held open by magical energies beginning to fade. No infections should settle in such a wound, luckily enough, although he bet it hurt like hell. The same couldn't be said for the robes though.

Sitting up, Marisa filled Genji in on what happened after Mima's defeat.

"That girl... she knocked Reimu out and told me to come find her if I want a rematch... and something about killing her."

"W-w-w-what?" Genji just about blew a shell at the news. "Kill Lady Reimu? B-But that'll mean the end of Gensokyo!"

"Keep your damn voice down!" Mima growled. Genji, seeing the fury in Mima's eyes, finally calmed down enough to speak in a controlled, quiet manner.

"This is bad... so, so bad..." Genji muttered, pacing as fast as a turtle could pace. "If Lady Reimu dies, everyone's screwed..."

Turning to Mima and Marisa, Genji said to them. "It's up to you two. Please, save Lady Re-"

"No." Mima replied. Genji stared at her, stunned.

"B-but, If she dies, then-"

"Don't care. I want her dead, remember?"

Genji stared in disbelief at Mima. How could she say such a thing? Okay, Lady Reimu and Mima were enemies in the past, but surely, after several years of hanging around the shrine, they had grown some sort of relationship? Not friends necessarily, but... what was the popular word for it? 'Nakama'?

"I'll go." Marisa said, surprising both Mima and Genji. they faced the witch, who was busy staring at the ground to her side, her face looking slightly flushed.

"You'll go save the Shrine Maiden?" Mima asked, her eyes narrowed as she glided over to her apprentice. She leaned down, as if to study Marisa.

"Why? You mean you actually like that useless miko?"

Marisa stared back at her Master, trying not to betray what she felt. "Of course not! I just want revenge for that sneak attack! And it wouldn't hurt to have Reimu indebted to me either."

Mima considered the reasons given to her. She felt it was a lie, of course. As if Marisa could ever hide her feelings from the great and all powerful Mima!

Sure, Marisa clearly wanted revenge for that attack last night, but Mima could feel a stronger desire to help that shrine maiden coming from her apprentice.

It wasn't a total surprise, really. Over the past few years, Marisa had become rather comfortable in Reimu's presence, indulging stories from her time with Mima, the spells she planned to use to beat Reimu one day, the constant visits that weren't all to do with Mima...

"Oh dear, my lowly apprentice has become smitten by that conniving miko!" Mima declared loudly, startling Genji and embarrassing Marisa.

"S-smitten? Who's smitten?" Marisa yelled, before flinching at the sudden pain in her healing shoulder.

Mima chuckled, before lapsing into thoughtful silence. Truth be told, she wanted to save Reimu too. Although, she herself wasn't sure why.

After all, they were enemies. Mima only hung around to try and lower the shrine maiden's guard... maybe poke some fun at her occasionally... maybe have a conversation to fill the time...

_Great, I've become dependant on my enemy to stave off boredom_. Mima realised.

Clearing her throat, Marisa said, "Anyway... That girl also said something about fighting her allies to reach her."

"Did she now?" Mima said, amused. "Well, of course there'd be more than one enemy - there always is! However, they're nothing compared to me..."

"Don't count me out, Lady Mima!" Marisa got to her feet, looking far better than she did last night. "In a fair fight, there's no way I can lose either!"

Mima laughed heartily. "This is great! That stupid miko will soon be indebted to both of us! This is too perfect!"

"... Well, as long as you're willing to save Lady Reimu's life... I suppose we'd better get ready then." Genji sighed.

"'We'? You're coming too?" Marisa asked in surprise.

"Of course! Lady Reimu will need a way to fly once we return."

One hour later, they were more or less ready.

Marisa's wound had pretty much healed completely, at least it wasn't hurting. She had quickly returned to her home in the Forest of Magic, found some new, black robes with white cuffs and lacing to wear, and a bunch of Spellcards. Some of them not exactly spells of her own invention.

Mima had, at Genji's pleading, secured Reimu's Gohei and Ying Yang Orb to his shell, as well as a deck of enchanted cards that Reimu would use as back up.

"This better be all the preparation you need." Mima sighed. "No going back for your shell brush or whatever."

"Why would I need a shell brush?" Genji snapped backed, while Marisa looked out to the courtyard, holding her broom within her crossed arms.

_...It was fear I felt last night, wasn't it_? the young magician wondered to herself. She recalled seeing Reimu being carried off, trying to determine what she had felt then.

_Fear... that I wouldn't see her again? But I don't like her that much, do I? Come to think of it, I never hate coming round here..._

"Marisa!" Mima practically roared into her ear, causing Marisa to yelp with surprise and jump back, holding a hand over her chest, feeling her rapid heartbeat.

"Stay focused, idiot!" Mima berated her, a scowl over her face. "There's no time for spacing out! Especially if there's no good reason! The enemy won't allow you the luxury of day dreaming!"

"I know! Sorrry!" Marisa apologised quickly. It wasn't like her to think back like that. Marisa preferred to live in the present, creating the greatest explosions ever and borrowing some interesting objects from many others, not worrying about what happened before. What's done is done. All Marisa had to do was go save that Shrine Maiden, and that was that...

"Now then... If we're all ready..." Mima said, looking at Marisa and Genji. "I guess we'd better get this over with."

Marisa and Genji nodded in agreement. Stepping out to the courtyard, the three began to ascend into the sky. Marisa mounted her broom as they did so.

"...She went that way." Marisa pointed south. "So, d'you think we'll find either a super secret mansion or a gateway to another dimension this time around?"

* * *

Reimu groaned softly as she opened her eyes, seeing nothing but blurs. She had finally woken up.

She sat up slowly, wondering why exactly she had a hard time waking up... and why her futon had become incredibly fluffy... and why there was someone else in the bed with her.

Once Reimu had finally remembered getting punched and falling into the weird girl's arms before her black out, she gave a startled yelp and rolled of the four-poster bed, landing on the floor with a dull thud.

The sleeping girl stirred slightly, but remained asleep. Reimu shakily got to her feet, watching the girl. At first, Reimu thought it was the one who had kidnapped her, but it couldn't be - this girl's hair was a light shade of blue, probably cerulean, and nowhere near as long. Although, Reimu thought the faces were identical...

"...Is she a prisoner?" Reimu wondered aloud, crossing her arms. Remembering that she had been taken in her bath robe, Reimu was shocked to find that she was wearing a violet coloured nightgown. Was her captor also considerate about her modesty? Nah, if that was the case, she would have at least let Reimu dress before abducting her.

Reimu took a better look at the room around her. It was... grand. If the large bed wasn't any indication, there was a window that stretched from the ground to the ceiling, albeit heavily barred. The sizable bedroom also held several wardrobes and dressers, as if the owner had way, way, way too many clothes for a single person to have.

There was a table next to the bed, on the side Reimu had fallen from. On it was a nightlamp and a note. Picking it up, Reimu read:

_"Dear Miss Hakurei, _

_Chances are I won't be awake to greet you, so this'll do for now. Welcome!_

_I understand you'll be a bit surprised at the hospitality, but worry not._

_You're a valuable guest in my home. As long as you stay here, feel free to_

_request services from any of my maids, from food to laundry._

_You'll find a nice selection of clothes to wear, and the_

_bathroom is the door directly across from this room._

_Feel free to freshen up before breakfast._

_I'm sure you'll find your way to the dining hall in time._

_Love, Rena."_

Throughout the note, there were random doodles, perhaps illustrating several points, such as a heart, a smiley face giving the thumbs up and... what Reimu could only describe as happily crossed eyes, and perhaps a self portrait of 'Rena', a stick figure with several feet of hair around her body.

Reimu glanced at the sleeping girl, who had moved in her sleep again. She was facing Reimu, with a knuckle near her lips and her cerulean hair splayed around her face. Any other time, Reimu might have called her adorable, but right now, Reimu wanted to meet with Rena and beat the hell out of her for the rude kidnapping, and expecting to fix it all with some (admittably thoughtful) service.

_Well, I gotta get answers from somewhere... _Reimu thought. Placing the note back on the table, she climbed onto the bed, allowing herself to reach the sleeping girl and shake her awake.

The girl moaned softly, obviously not wanting to wake. Reimu wasn't about to let the girl slumber on, so she continued shaking her. "Come on! Get up, I need an explanation right now!"

Eventually, the girl's eyes blinked open. The same colour as her hair, Reimu saw. With a yawn, she sat up slowly, the covers falling to reveal that she had the same scarlet coloured, one piece costume.

Reimu's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the girl. There were quite a few coincidences going on... The suit, the face, the note mentioning Rena being asleep... was Rena trying to disguise herself to try and get closer to Reimu? That seemed utterly pointless, and very badly thought out.

"I want answers." Reimu said simply, getting straight to the point. "Who are you? Rena? What's with all this?" She waved a hand around the room to indicate the high class treatment going on.

The still-sleepy girl gave her a questioning look, before breaking into a dazzling smile. "Good morning, Miss Hakurei! Lovely day, isn't it?"

Reimu pounced on her, placing both hands on the girl's shoulder's and pinning her to the bed. The girl gave a startled yelp, which gave way to a rather flushed look.

"M-miss Hakurei! I-I can't - We've known each other for five seconds! Can't it wait u-until-"

"What? I want you to answer me!" Reimu growled, trying to ignore the embarrassed feeling she recieved from the misunderstanding, although she couldn't help but wonder how she thought Reimu was being sexually aggressive. Still, she didn't let the girl go.

"Now, I'll ask again: Who are you, and what exactly is going on?"

The girl gave her a bright smile again, the red in her face gone instantly. "Ah, that's a shame... Anyways, my name's Christina. And this is one of the manor's many guest rooms."

Reimu glared down at Christina, wondering what to ask next. "Okay, are you a servant?"

"Nope. Owner."

"...And you slept in the guest room?" Reimu enquired.

Christina nodded. "I thought you would be lonely, and I thought it would be nice of me to keep you company. You know, in case you got scared when you woke up."

_And sleeping with a stranger isn't scary? _Reimu thought, but instead said, "Well, it was unnecessary... Okay, where's Rena?"

Christina looked puzzled as she looked up at Reimu. "Rena? Hm... No idea who that is."

As Reimu stared at the girl in disbelief, Christina addded. "Um, could you please let go? My shoulders are kinda hurting, and I don't think we're going to advance at this point."

Reimu gave her a questioning look, before slowly letting go. She still kneeled over the girl though. At least it kept her in some kind of control.

"How can you not know Rena?" Reimu asked. "She's the one who brought me here - I think - she's even got the same stupid suit on!"

Christina glanced at the costume, looking confused. "I was wearing this? Weird, I hate this colour..." She muttered.

Reimu was incredibly confused. Was this girl really oblivious to Rena's existence, or was this some stupid farce?

"But... the note." Reimu waved at the note sitting on the table. "It was written by her! In fact, I bet you wrote it!"

"Hm? Can I see it please?"

Reimu would have to relinquish her 'power' over Christina to fetch it, but it didn't seem like Christina was going to attack. Cautiously, Reimu climbed off the bed, moving to the table and passing the note to her.

Christina scanned the letter quickly, looking confused. "...Well, it_ is_ my hand writing..."

"So it was you!" Reimu declared triumphantly.

But I honestly don't know who Rena is." Christina continued. "Heck, ask my servants. They'll tell ya, there's no 'Rena' here!"

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. "Enter!" Christina called.

A young woman entered, wearing a white and black maid's uniform. She held a tray of drinks in one hand. Reimu watched the girl give a bow without tipping the tray, and approached them.

"Your morning water, Mistress." The maid passed a cup of water to Christina, who happily accepted. The maid turned to Reimu. "Would you like a drink as well, miss?"

Reimu shook her head, and after Christina took a sip of her drink, she said to her servant, "Ah, Lyra, right on cue! There wouldn't happen to be a resident in the manor called 'Rena', would there?"

The maid looked at Christina, then at Reimu. For a split second, Reimu was sure she'd seen a look of worry on her face. However, an amused smile instead spread across the maid's face.

"Rena? Of course not, Mistress." Lyra answered. "I believe you would be aware of someone by that name."

"And there you have it!" Christina declared smugly at Reimu, who returned a cold stare.

"You can say that all you like. doesn't change the fact that I was kidnapped and brought here." Reimu replied. "It's kinda obvious you're trying to trick me, so that Rena can come and stab me in the back, when she could of done that any time between my bath time and now."

Christina and Lyra stared at Reimu silently for a few moments, unsure of what to say. Finally, Lyra turned to Christina. "Um, Mistress, I think our guest is a bit confused. Perhaps we should let her rest a little more? She was injured when she arrived..."

"Ah, yeah, that's right..." Christina said, as if recalling taking in a horribly injured traveller. "Okay then, go ahead and sleep a little more, miss Hakurei! We'll see you around a little later!"

As Christina hopped off the bed and went to leave, she said to her maid, "By the way, Lyra, what's with this tacky costume? It's like a horrible swimsuit, get rid of it please."

"Of course." Lyra bowed to her mistress as she left, waiting for the door to close before setting the tray on the table and facing Reimu.

"Answers, please?" Reimu asked.

Lyra shook her head. "Miss Hakurei... I'm afraid I don't exactly know the situation either. However... Please act nicely to Mistress Christina. She's been... lonely for a while, and means you no harm."

"Lonely? I bet she's got an army of maids and servants, some of which may or not be attempting to impede any possible rescue attempts on my behalf." Reimu replied, ignoring the fact that the only help she was sure to recieve was Genji's, which meant she was going to receive no useful help. "So, why exactly am I the one who has to make sure she isn't 'lonely'?"

Lyra gave Reimu a calculating glare with her light grey eyes. "It's a complicated matter. Mistress Christina is, quite frankly, bored with us. You're the first person to visit this manor in one hundred and fifty eight years."

"Is that why Rena took me here?" Reimu asked, and noticed a small twitch at the corner of Lyra's mouth.

"...I don't know who or what brought you here, but we see it as a gift." Lyra said, which Reimu instantly saw as a lie. It was pretty blatant too, as if Reimu were too stupid to notice. Did people really have such a low opinion of her intelligence?

She didn't call the maid out on it though. It would lead to pointless bickering. Reimu would have to find some other way to get answers.

"If that's out of the way..." Lyra said next. "...Would you like assistance getting ready?"

"Getti- Huh? Why would I need help with that?" Reimu asked in surprise. "...I'll find something myself. you can go dress Christy or whatever it was."

"Christina." Lyra reminded her disapprovingly. She picked up the tray and discarded empty cup, leaving Reimu in the room alone.

"... This is probably the weirdest situation I've been in by far." Reimu sighed.


	3. Chapter 3  Stage 1 Boss  Shujiko

Normally, the sight of a witch, a ghost and a turtle flying overhead would be cause for concern. Normally, people would flock to the streets if such a group was passing by over your village.

But Gensokyo wasn't a normal country. In a land filled with Youkai and magic, this wasn't anything unusual.

The three had passed by their second village, hoping to find a hint of Reimu's whereabouts soon. Not that they were entirely sure what the 'hint' would be.

"I swear, if it turns out she's in the basement of one of those villagers back there, I'm blowing it all up." Mima grumbled.

"As if Lady Reimu would be confined in such a place!" Genji snapped back. "The location must be somewhere so heavily fortified, even Lady Reimu would have trouble escaping."

"Well, why not ask her?" Marisa asked, pointing at the ground.

Below the group, standing on the beaten path of a large field, was a single figure, which Marisa assumed was female since... well, when was the last time a guy had any significance to the incident of the day?

The girl was watching the group as they flew overhead, identifying them as the ones she was asked to fight by that long haired girl just last night.

It was a bit sudden, seeing a girl with hair longer than her body - and carrying a girl wearing nothing but a bathrobe - and asking her if she would be so kind as to stall a group of pursuers who would most likely come through this particular area, at around this time.

Shujiko Ishi wasn't a mercenary of any sort. She was a relatively young Youkai who wanted nothing more than a fair fight. Unfortunately, Shujiko had a hard time finding one. Not because everyone she ever fought or played with were cheaters. No, it was because Shujiko simply couldn't lose.

Shujiko had what she refered to as an 'indomitable will'. Basically, Shujiko could fight well past her normal limits through sheer will power alone. Because of this, opponents viewed her as completely unbeatable. This saddened Shujiko to no end, since she absolutely hated pre-determined results.

The only reason Shujiko had decided to stall this group was because the long haired girl had promised that they were likely the only few who could defeat her. At the very least, they would prove entertaining enough to snap her out of the depression she'd been stuck with lately.

Marisa descended towards the ground, sitting atop her broom with both legs hanging of the same side. She gave a cheery smile to the depressed looking girl. "Heya! I know this is kinda odd, but have you seen a girl with stupidly long hair, carrying a purple-haired Shrine Maiden lately?"

Shujiko stared at Marisa for several seconds, analysing the young magician. From outward appearances, this girl was nothing more than a human. Her powers couldn't hope to match Shujiko's, at least at full power. She wouldn't do.

"I have." Shujiko replied, her voice dull and monotonous. Her eyes were a dull brown colour as well, as though darkened by her depression. Her hair at least looked a natural shade of brown, reaching her shoulder blades. A light blue bow was tied in her hair.

Shujiko also wore a blue and green checkered blouse, with a white skirt and grey shorts underneath. She felt more comfortable knowing that she could stand on higher ground and reveal nothing.

Marisa waited a few moments for the strange looking girl to elaborate further, before waving her hand in a circlular motion. "So... have they went through here?"

"Yes." Shujiko replied, not elaborating further on this either.

"...Okay. Thanks, I guess." Marisa was about to ascend to the sky again when Shujiko spoke up.

"If you don't mind, could you ask the ghost up there to challenge me to a fight? I'm... kinda supposed to stall you here."

Marisa raised an eyebrow at the request. "So, you're actually working for Hair-Girl?"

Shujiko shrugged. "Kinda. I was just asked to, and I really need a strong opponent. The ghost might provide a good challenge."

Marisa wondered if this girl was a bit screwy in her mind. What kind of opponent simply asked for someone to stop and kindly challenge them to a battle? She was supposed to jump out at them, declare a challenge herself, and proceed to blast them, right?

However, what irked Marisa more was the girl's intentions - to fight Mima, and not herself? What was wrong with her? Sure, Mima was powerful, but this girl was implying that she, the amazingly awesome thief and skilled magician Marisa, was not worth her time?

"... Lady Mima would rather not waste her time on weaklings." Marisa said, a condescending smile on her face. "If you want to fight her, then you'll have to get past me fi-"

"Marisa! Hurry up or we'll go on without you!" Mima yelled, getting quite impatient.

"In a minute! She's the first enemy we've come across!" Marisa yelled back. "And for once, she actually has something to do with the situation!"

Shujiko tilted her head slightly as Marisa returned her attention back to her, her expression showing only the littlest of curiosity. "Anyway, yeah, I'm gonna blast you away, so you'd better be prepared!"

Shujiko sighed. "Fine, I'll fight you first. Please, prove my assumptions wrong."

Several minutes later, Marisa and Shujiko had taken positions several feet from each other, with Mima and Genji floating above them. Mima looked quite annoyed that she had to stick around. The girl had requested Mima stay since, aside from wanting that battle, Shujio was tasked to stall them both. Letting her and the turtle go on ahead would defeat the point.

"Three, two one, begin." Mima sighed. "Marisa, make this quick."

Once the match had 'officially' begun, Marisa had quickly fished a Spellcard from her robes. "It's over already! Stardust Bomber!"

the Spellcard flashed violet for a second, before purple, star shaped bullets began to form around Marisa, then start randomly shooting towards Shujiko.

Shujiko watched the stars flying at her calmly, slowly waving her hand in an arc in front of her. Several bullets formed and flew forward. A few of them collided with Marisa's stars, but most of them had an unobstructed path towards the magician, who simply grinned.

"That's one of the easiest attacks to dodge I've ever seen!" Marisa declared, charging forward on her broom, easily weaving through the bullets fired by Shujiko, who continuously waved her arm back and forth to fire more bullets as she quite easily dodged Marisa's bullets as well.

"Then perhaps this will be trickier?" Shujiko said, extending both arms forward. Suddenly, the bullets rapidly converged at several points around Marisa, who stopped in order to see what her opponent was doing next.

Several larger bullets had now formed and were encircling Marisa. As they attempted to close Marisa between them, she noticed Shujiko charging up an even bigger bullet.

_So that's your plan... _Marisa thought. Attempting to trap Marisa between a bunch of bullets and blast her when she couldn't move. Not bad, but...

Just as Shujiko fired, Marisa saw her chance. While gaps between the bullets were large, they moved so fast it would prove rather difficult to escape without taking a beating.

Marisa shot upwards, attempting to speed through an opening before she was blasted out of the sky. With one hand steering her broom, and the other hanging on to the brim of her hat, she flew clear of the make-shift barrier before the giant bullet barreled past.

Marisa had grazed her back against one of the bullets during her escape, but came out unharmed otherwise. She laughed at Shujiko, who dropped her arms and simply watched Marisa.

"Is that really all you've got?" Marisa taunted. "You couldn't even beat Genji with those attacks!"

"Just what are you insinuating?" Genji grumbled in offense.

Shujiko's mouth twitched slightly into small smile. She didn't mind the taunting. After all, it was clear that going all out would bring her victory. Still, the witch had some skill, if she could escape the last attack with no serious injury.

"I'd like to get serious." Shujiko said to Marisa. "But... I'm not entirely convinced you can handle it."

Marisa giggled at her words. "And why not? It's not like you've been a challenge so far! Why am I wasting time with you again?"

"Because I'm supposed to stall you." Shujiko replied automatically.

"Right. Well, this is all the time you could buy!" Marisa fished another spellcard from her robes. "Starlight Duster!"

More star-shaped bullets formed around Marisa, practically obscuring her from view with their numbers. Shujiko watched, curious, as the Bullets slowly orbited around Marisa, before blasting towards her.

Shujiko moved swiftly to avoid the stars, ducking, weaving and bouncing in a desperate attempt to avoid the attack. However, the sheer numbers proved too much, and one too many grazes distracted Shujiko long enough for the last dozen or so bullets to slam into her, knocking her back several feet, where she lay panting.

"Ha! Completely unavoidable!" Marisa declared triumphantly, raising her arms in a victory cheer. "I knew there was no weak points!"

"Except for the enemy taking it and still standing back up." Mima pointed out to her apprentice. Surprised, Marisa watched as Shujiko staggered back to her feet, her teeth clenched in pain, but her eyes slightly brighter.

"She took all that and got back up...?" Marisa muttered, before a grin spread over her own face. "Intriguing."

"All right, this is boring me already." Mima grumbled, descending to Shujiko's level. "I don't feel like wasting too much time here."

Mima pointed her palm at Shujiko' face, who gave her a surprised look.

"Oh, we can fight now?" Shujiko asked.

As if in response to Shujiko's question, Mima gathered some magic into her hand, and blew Shujiko away in a green light of pain. The blast extended in the direction of the Forest of Magic, to the groups east. Shujiko would have been knocked out by such an attack quite easily.

"No." Mima said, as the real response to Shujiko's question. Marisa gazed in admiration at Mima's display of power. Trust her to end things quickly! Although, if that girl ended up thinking she needed Mima's help to win...

"I... guess we can go now?" Genji asked, slightly surprised at Mima's actions. Only slightly. After all, she was a former enemy, it wasn't exactly beneath her to simply blow someone away in such a manner.

As the group once again took to the skies, flying further south, Shujiko blinked her eyes open. Her body was in a whole lot of pain, but she didn't cry out. Instead, she sat up, her back to the forest.

"Ugh... I hate cheap shots..." Shujiko grumbled, although her eyes were twinkling. "... Still, that power... maybe if we had a proper match..."

She wanted to chase after the group, but decided against it. After all, Shujiko had technically fulfilled her duty. 'Stalling' wasn't the same as 'defeating' her opponents. Plus, chances were good that they'd return. No doubt they were going to rescue that unconscious girl. The shrine maiden, did they call her?

"Mima... I hope we meet again." Shujiko muttered, standing up and brushing her clothing. It was frayed from the blast, but otherwise fine.

Marisa glanced in the direction Shujiko was blasted to as they resumed their searched, a look of curiosity on her face.

"Miss Mima, why are you so eager to find Reimu?" A teasing smile spread across her face. "You're not actually worried about her, are you?"

"Like I said, I was getting bored." Mima replied firmly, her gaze set ahead of her. "I shouldn't have to waste my time on every idiot who thinks they can hold a candle to my might."

"You know, some honesty wouldn't kill you." Genji grumbled, and was promptly ignored.

* * *

Reimu was testing a theory of hers.

She was taken to this manor as a prisoner by Rena. Christina insisted that 'Rena' didn't exist and that she was a guest to the home. Well, if that was true, what was stopping her from just walking through the door?

Reimu had washed and dressed in a brilliantly white blouse with a light blue skirt and boots (which she was surprised actually fit her. Christina was at least a head shorter than her, after all) and had made her way down a large flight of stairs, presuming the dining hall would be on the ground floor.

Reimu had reached the foyer, a grand place with a marble statue of Christina in the centre, and many doorways on either side of the place, as well a staircase on each side. The doors, which were at least twelve feet tall for some reason, were simply right _there._

No one else was around, Reimu noticed. Not a servant, nor Rena or Christina or whoever else here was around. If she was truly a guest, Reimu could walk out that door with no problem.

Not that Reimu had much of an idea of what to do if she was allowed to go free. After all, she would be stealing these clothes. Plus she didn't know were this manor was located, so making her way back to her shrine (and on foot too!) would be difficult. Still, she may as well make sure.

Reimu crossed the foyer, glancing at the marble statue. From Reimu's memory, it was a perfect replica of Christina herself, aside from the hair, which was held in four separate pigtails reaching her waist. But the shape of her body, her expression, the way her dress folded and creased in areas... no sculptor could be that skilled, could they?

Well, it didn't matter anyway. Reimu was only trying to walk through the front door. No need to ogle at a statue.

Reaching the doors, Reimu gave them a push. It didn't budge. At first, Reimu thought they were too heavy to be moved, until she tried pulling.

The doors were surprisingly light as she tugged, the late morning sunlight shining through as she opened them. _Too easy... _Reimu thought. Maybe she was just a guest after all.

"Lovely morning isn't it, Miss Hakurei?" A voice spoke from behind, causing her to yelp in surprise and whirl around, raising her hands defensively.

Lyra stood there, holding a basket of brightly coloured laundry. She was beaming at Reimu, although she wondered if Lyra's smile was genuine.

"...Sure." Reimu agreed, turning to look back outside. It was a pretty large garden. If there was a front gate, it must be miles away._ Seriously, how much land does that girl need?_ Reimu wondered.

"The original owner of the Manor liked a bit of space." Lyra pointed, again, as if reading Reimu's mind.

"Anyway, I would suggest breakfast before taking a walk." Lyra continued, shifting the basket in her hands slightly. "Best to build up energy for the day ahead."

"Why? I'm not doing anything later." Reimu replied. "Unless you mean walking home, in which case, point the way to Hakurei Shrine, please."

"Leaving so soon? Miss Christina would be disappointed." Lyra sighed. "She thinks she found a great friend too."

"... You should tell her that friends aren't made just because a 'non-existent' being drops them in their home." Reimu muttered, glancing back outside before closing the oversized doors.

Lyra chuckled lightly at her words. "It's possible, Miss Hakurei, if you wish it."

"Just call me 'Reimu', please."

"Very well."

Lyra led Reimu towards the dining hall. Looking at the staue again, Reimu decided to ask, "So who made that thing? It's a bit more accurate than normal, isn't it?"

"Of course, we had the greatest sculptor in Gensokyo make it for us." Lyra replied happily. "Took him sixteen years, eight months and three days, but it was well worth the wait."

Reimu sighed. "Huh. It only just occurs to me that Christina's a Youkai."

"Is that a problem?" Lyra turned her head slightly to look at Reimu.

"Of course not. Although, it may explain something." Reimu replied. If Christina was a Youkai, aside from explaining how that statue would like the current Christina despite the length of time it took to make, it may explain Rena as well. They had to be related somehow. Maybe Christina could transform at will, or at least mess with the length of her hair. After all, it did seem to part of its own accord last night, although that may have been the wind or something...

_Plus, what kind of Youkai controls hair?_ Reimu wondered. Odd powers weren't actually all that unusual in Gensokyo, but the power to control your hair style seemed... rather bland. then again, so was the power over flowers, and Yuka was _far_ from weak.

Lyra remained silent as she faced forward again, stopping in front of another set of doors.

"In here." Lyra said, tiliting her head at the door. "Food will be served for you shortly. Please enjoy your meal."

As Lyra walked away, presumably to some specialised laundry room, Reimu entered the dining room. There, she saw a... surprisingly small, round dining table, with Christina already seated. She looked happy when Reimu had arrived, and quickly rose from her seat.

"Over here! Come sit with me!" She called, as if trying to attract Reimu away from anyone else she may want to eat with. Rolling her eyes, Reimu took a seat opposite her. Christina was wearing a rather elegant looking white dress, her hair tied into pigtails. It looked like some weird combination of a child and an elegant woman.

_I really should leave after I have a bite to eat... _Reimu thought. Best to return to her shrine before Genji dies of worry or something.


	4. Chapter 4 Barrier Maidens & Hair Styles

"Okay, I spy, with my magic eye... something beginning with 'B'."

"Your broomstick, Marisa."

"Lucky guess."

The group had flown to the base of the mountains, several dozen miles from Hakurei Shrine. While Marisa was certain this is where the long-haired girl had fled, it seemed pretty unlikely that she was hiding out here. Mima had decided to scout the mountains out, looking for any kind of settlement or camp site that she may be residing at. Marisa and Genji were now awaiting her return at the foot of the mountains, passing the time with a game neither felt like continuing.

"Ugh, this is so boring..." Marisa complained, idly tapping the broom against the ground. "When's Miss Mima coming back?"

"I'd give her more than forty eight seconds to report in." Genji replied, although he too was anxious for her swift return. He needed to know if this was the right direction or not, after all. If Marisa had led them in the completely wrong direction, he was going to explode...

Marisa huffed, wishing she could blow the mountains away. that would make a house easier to find, right? Of course, the old turtle wouldn't agree, and Mima might point out that, while certainly a nice thought, the house would be blown away too. Such a pain.

Not wishing the rest of their time waiting be in silence, Genji decided to ask Marisa. "So, why exactly do you wish to rescue Lady Reimu?"

"Eh?" Marisa looked surprised. "I - I don't! It's just revenge I want."

"Funny, you mentioned saving Lady Reimu back at the Shrine." Genji replied.

"Y-yeah! So that she owes me something!" Marisa quickly answered. "Like, uh... I can borrow whatever I want, all the time!"

"...I'd say that's what you normally do, but thankfully we have nothing for you to 'borrow'." Genji muttered, not sure if he should be glad or saddened at the lack of any valuable materials in their possession. It was a mystery how he and Lady Reimu got by, given the lack of donations the shrine got.

"But anyway, if you're worried about Lady Reimu, just say. Because - "

"Why do you think I am?" Marisa challenged, glaring at Genji.

"...This tsundere act could give people the wrong idea." Genji continued, an amused smile creeping up on his aged face. Clearing his throat, he put on the best high pitched voice the throat of an old turtle could make. "Oh Lady Reimu, I don't like you! But I'll save you from danger! N-not because I like you, though! Only because I-ARGH!"

Marisa whacked Genji over the head with her broom, knocking him out. She glared at the unconscious turtle with a flushed face, feeling embarrassed. But why? There was nothing to be embarrassed about... this was a bit out of character for her, Marisa realised. She just had to take it easy. Rescuing Reimu meant nothing, after all.

"Stupid turtle... I don't like her." Marisa muttered, planting herself on the ground. She gazed at the sky, wondering why she was acting like this.

"Maybe I'm just a little worried... After all, she is my rival. It's perfectly normal to help your rival out when they're in need... I think..." Marisa muttered to herself.

* * *

"Honestly, that stupid apprentice of mine needs to be more honest with herself." Mima sighed as she scanned the mountains around her. She had flown another mile onward, looking for some sort of clue of were to go next. Nothing but mountains for miles 'round these parts.

"Is she afraid I'll disown her or something?" Mima wondered aloud as she continued her futile search. "Really now, just because I had a scuffle with that stupid miko doesn't mean I'm against her actually making a friend... Not gonna be around forever, after all."

Mima paused, processing what she had just said. 'Not gonna be around forever'? Why the hell not? She was a soul. An all powerful one at that. She had no lifespan, nor weakness to get rid of her. Why say such a thing?

She figured it was to do with the sense of foreboding she had been feeling for the past few moments. For some reason, Mima had an uneasy feeling about the near future, as if it was going to be an even bigger deal than she initially thought.

_...Nah, I'm just insane_. Mima shrugged the feeling away casually, and resumed her search. _Just this mountain air getting to me, making me say- _"Hello, what's this?"

Mima had come to another stop, but not of her own volition. This time, it felt like something was repelling her, pushing her away from the intended path.

Curious, Mima glided to the side and proceeded, but was repelled once again, as if there was a rubber wall in front of her._ A barrier? Here? _Mima wondered, a small grin appearing on her face.

Mima, with her hand outstretched, began to search for the barrier's boundaries. She began to fly eastward, following the barrier's wall until it began to curve inward. It didn't take long for Mima to realise it must be a dome shaped barrier. All Mima could see beyond the barrier was more mountains, but clearly, there had to be something here. Something worth hiding away...

"Halt! Intruder!" A voice called from above. Mima glanced up, seeing a woman floating above her.

The woman was obviously a Youkai, seeing as she had some form of shining crystal lodged in her forehead. Her glaring eyes were a striking blue, with short, black hair flowing in the wind. She wore a light green yukata with floral decorations, and a sheathed sword hanging by her waist.

"State your business here, or turn back!" The girl demanded, a hand resting on the hilt of her sword, which Mima guessed to be a katana. It wasn't a concern, though. Mima was a soul, after all. Magic was necessary to harm her.

"I'm here looking for some girl with freakishly long hair." Mima answered, folding her arms as she studied the girl. "She stole some idiotic shrine maiden, and it's kind of necessary that she be returned."

"Hmph. So you are enemies of my Mistress." the girl stated, drawing her sword. It certainly looked like a normal katana. The girl lowered herself slightly, her footing suggesting that she was standing atop the barrier.

"My name is Tara, the Barrier Maiden of Daidouji Manor." Tara stated, glaring at Mima. "Clearly, you seek to harm my Mistress, which I cannot allow."

"Oh? Your cowardly 'Mistress' had the gall to attack me and my apprentice with no formal challenge. I can't let that insult slide." Mima replied, a cold smile on her face. "Oh, and that kidnapping thing I mentioned earlier, I guess. Surely a little payback is okay?"

Tara glared at Mima, looking rather conflicted for some reason. It was like she couldn't decide if Mima's words were true or not.

"...It's better that you leave. My Mistress has big plans for Gensokyo. The life of the Shrine Maiden is a small price to pay for revolution."

"Revolution, you say?" Mima asked with a small laugh. "So, she plans to kill Hakurei and see this place fall? Sorry, but I called dibs on that plan already."

Tara gave Mima a confused look, then pointed her sword at Mima. "I guess I have to force you to go then?"

Mima shook her head, rising to be level with the Youkai. "Nope. that implies you have the power to force me anywhere. Either I pummel you senseless and continue, or you let me continue peacefully. I suggest the latter option for optimal results."

"Former option it is." Tara replied coldly, swinging her katana in a swift, controlled slice.

Bullets emerged from the area Tara had swung her sword, rapidly heading for Mima. Rolling her eyes, she made a quick descent, practically falling through the air to avoid the bullets.

Mima pointed her right palm at Tara. "Tri-Star Bullet!"

A bright flash arose from her hand, instantly disappearing to make way for the three huge, star shaped bullets that were suddenly rocketing towards Tara.

The Barrier Maiden didn't react, instead smirking as the bullets approached. A second before impact, Tara raised a hand in front of her, forming a small barrier in front of her to repel the bulets.

Tara was shaken and surprised when the stars impacted. They were far stronger than she had suspected, and she nearly dropped her sword in shock. She maintained her grip and her barrier, forcing herself to bounce the bullets away from her. When the stars eventually relented and faded, Tara was panting slightly, glaring at Mima who had risen above her.

"I'd say 'not bad, you blocked my attack', but it's a useless compliment when that was my weakest spell, with zero charge time." Mima commented condescendingly. "Normally, I'd annihilate you instantly, but I'd rather save my greatest spells for your Mistress. Either let me through or die slowly."

Tara growled, pointing her sword at Mima again. "Don't underestimate me! I have guarded this manor for two hundred and one years! Not once has an intruder gotten past me, and you won't be the first!"

"'Course I will. I'm technically on the 'good' side now." Mima replied with a smirk. She folded her arms once again, waiting for Tara's next move.

* * *

"Huh? Magic?" Marisa muttered, craning her neck to look at the mountain towering above her. She was sure she felt the energy from Mima's magic just now. Did that mean she was fighting? That this was indeed the right way?

"Hey! Grandpa turtle, wake up!" Marisa tapped Genji's head, trying to poke him awake. He made a pained moan and opened his eyes, blinking at Marisa.

"Eh? Wut's up, Maria? Did Maimi come back?" Genji mumbled, looking incredibly dazed.

"...No, but she's onto something, I can feel it! Come on!"

Marisa mounted her broom, impatiently waiting for Genji to wake up and proceed to follow. The old turtle unsteadily got to his feet, trying to clear his aching head.

"M-Marie, did you... hit me earlier?" Genji asked, trying to remember how to fly.

Immediately, Marisa kicked off the ground. "Nope, course not! I'd never do a thing like that! Now hurry up!" She called back innocently.

Leaving Genji to clear his head and catch up later, Marisa scanned the horizon, trying to spot Mima. It was hard to spot a spirit from a distance, brightly dressed or not, but she did see a figure in the distance. Chances were, that was the enemy. Marisa charged, eager to see Mima utterly destroy the unlucky idiot who stood in her master's way.

Meanwhile, Genji had remembered how to remain airborne, and unsteadily rose in the sky, trying not to drop the objects strapped to his back.

"...Pretty sure she hit me." Genji mumbled as the mountain tops slowly became level. "My head is aching... should a broom really hurt this much?"

* * *

This was probably the noisest meal Reimu had ever had.

Christina did nothing but chat away, talking at high speed about her life. Apparently, ninety percent of said life was cooped up in this manor, but the occasional notable instance happened. Like this one time, when she was ninety two (And looked about six, Christina added), she met a crazy vampire that could kill people without having to touch them, and proceeded to heroically defend her manor from this evil force. Reimu could tell this particular story was a load of crap made up to try and impress her.

"...And that's when I decided I needed maids, so I didn't have to do all the work!" Christina concluded, her meal of various, home grown vegetables untouched. "...Although, I kinda already had Lyra..."

"Funny, you said this happened before Lyra was hired." Reimu pointed out with a small smirk.

Christina simply shrugged. "Eh. Details."

"Correct details are very important to any story Mistress, fictional or not." Lyra spoke, having just arrived to pick up the dishes. She gave a look of approval to Reimu's empty plate, but shook her head at Christina's.

"My Lady, your meal is still untouched. I'm afraid it'll have to be thrown out."

"Meh, I can wait 'till lunch." Christina shrugged it off. Sighing, Lyra picked up the plates and departed for the kitchen. Christina looked at Reimu for several seconds before saying anything else.

"Can I ask, is that hair colour natural?" Christina asked.

Reimu blinked in surprise. "Of course not. A fairy cursed me when I was about three."

"How horrible!"

"Is it? I think it's pretty fine for a curse." Reimu answered, wondering why this girl was asking. After all, no one else did. Then again, they were probably afraid she would get all mad and emotional or something.

Christina got to her feet and walked over to Reimu's side, who watched her warily. "Hm... I don't think purple really suits you. I can fix it, if you like?"

"Fix it? How?" Reimu asked, surprised.

Christina grinned widely, flicking a lock of her hair. "Easy, I'm a Hair Youkai!"

Reimu forced her face to remain impassive at the declaration. It was funny how this girl could proudly proclaim her power over hair with no hint of sarcasm. It was also funny how Reimu's earlier thought about Rena's ability was actually Christina's.

Smirking slightly, Reimu rose from her seat and faced Christina. "So, you can change hair colour?"

"And length." Christina nodded excitedly. "And it's not limited to head hair, either."

"...That was necessary to know." Reimu muttered sarcastically, suppressing the bad thoughts that arose from the statement.

"Sorry, I guess no one likes long nose hairs..." Christina muttered, and flinched when Reimu suddenly burst out laughing. "H-hey! What'd I say?"

Reimu struggled to contain her giggles, wondering why she thought it was so funny. Because of a simple misunderstanding? This girl's obliviousness?

When Reimu had finally wheezed the last laugh from her lungs, she smiled weakly at a very confused Christina. "Sorry, it's nothing. Anyway, if you really do have that power, try fixing my hair colour."

"Sure thing!" Christina complied with excitement, gently touching Reimu's hair. Christina stared at a lock of purple hair, gently stroking at at while Reimu crouched slightly, making it easier for the slightly smaller Youkai to do whatever she was doing.

Reimu had kept her gaze on Christina, watching her closely. She was wondering just how deeply connected this girl was to Rena. After all, if this girl could change hair at will, that meant she could change her own...

But the personalities seemed different. Rena came across as arrogant, despite that friendly voice. Christina seemed childish, yet friendly as well. Come to think of it, Rena's voice was almost identical to Christina's if Reimu recalled correctly. She had sounded like two people talking at the time...

"There we go!" Christina declared, startling Reimu. She had been lost in her thoughts, and she noticed that her purple hair had now become a shining black colour.

"You like it?" Christina asked, nervously watching as Reimu ran a hand through her hair, amazed. She barely remembered having dark hair, and it was weird to have a different colour all of a sudden.

"It's... nice." Reimu admitted, to Christina's relief.

"Awesome! You could try some sort of hair style that purple could never do justice!" Christina suggested, running behind Reimu. With a surprisingly gentle, yet firm grasp, she bunched Reimu's hair, deep in thought.

"Hey! What're you doing now?" Reimu asked, trying to face Christina.

"Just checking something!" Christina let go, allowing Reimu to turn around. Once she did so, Christina grabbed another lock of her hair, pinching it as she positioned it at the side of Reimu's confused face.

"Hm... You'd look great with shorter hair, I think. Maybe some cute little bangs here..." Christina muttered.

"...I think you've done enough with my hair." Reimu gently moved Christina's hand away. "...But, could you show me something kind of important?"

Christina looked confused for a second, before blushing and stepping back.

"I-I'd like to, but I don't think I'm ready to show it to anyone, girl or no... But-"

"How the hell did you get that idea? There was no cue to think that!" Reimu said in exasperation. Why did this girl have to desperately turn any random question into some form of sexual statement? It was like a child trying to interpret 'grown up' meanings behind everyone to look mature. "I meant change your hair!"

"Oh." Christina sounded almost disappointed. "Well, okay, I gues..."

"Thanks, now... make it about as long as you are." Reimu instructed, and Christina gave her a confused look.

"As long as me? Sounds like a stupid hairstyle."

"Just do it."

Christina complied, allowing her cerulean hair to grow, flowing to the ground as her pigtails were undone.

"Okay, can you make it orange coloured?" Reimu asked, and Christina wrinkled her nose.

"Do I have to? That colour doesn't suit hair of this length."

"Please!"

"Okay, okay..." The cerulean hair began to change colour, becoming a deeper blue, to purple, to red and finally orange. Reimu stared for a long time as she looked at the spitting image of Rena.

"...Um, Reimu? Can I fix it now? I hate this hair style..." Christina muttered, looking embarrassed.

At that moment, Lyra returned from the kitchen. "Mistress, there's an urgent matter to dis-Ah!"

The maid practically flew backwards in shock as she saw Christina from behind, a hand over her chest.

Christina glanced back, hearing Lyra's surprised yelp. "Lyra? What's wrong? I know the hair's ugly, but it was Reimu's idea!"

"I-I see..." Lyra muttered, looking relieved. Reimu gave a questioning look to Lyra as she recovered, which the maid returned with a glare. Yet another clue that she knew something about all this.

Christina allowed her hair to return to the form it was previously, with the shoulder length, cerulean coloured hair before facing Lyra. "Um, did you say something, by the way?"

"Yes... We must speak in private." Lyra answered, placing a hand on Christina's shoulder and steering her towards the kitchen door. "I suggest Miss Hakurei return to her room for now."

"Why?" Christina and Reimu asked simultaniously.

"Because she'll be more comfortable there." Lyra answered, and shooed Christina away, closing the door behind her. Reimu stared at the closed door for several seconds, before shrugging and leaving through the other door, that led to the foyer.

_That girl... she has to be Rena... _Reimu wondered to herself as she walked. _Either that, or her twin... who doesn't know Rena at all..._

Clearly, there was a ton of lies flying around. Obviously, none of them any good. Reimu wondered just how long it would take for these people to just decide to get around to killing her. If that was Rena's goal, what was the hold up?

Reimu made her way upstairs, trying to remember the exact directions to the room she had woken up in. She briefly considered just walking out the front door, but chances were some other servant would bar her path somehow... Without her weapons, Reimu felt powerless. A heavy contrast to the utterly awesome power she'd displayed in the past...


	5. Chapter 5 Boss to Boss Transition

"So you wish to continue your futile defense then?" Mima asked the Barrier Maiden in amusement.

Tara panted heavily, glaring at Mima from atop the invisible barrier protecting the manor. It wasn't looking good for her. She had attempted another assault on the soul, firing high speed bullets with swift thrusts of her blade, but her opponent dodged everything and launched a counter attack. From the lazy movements and lack of any real 'oomph' to the spells, Tara wasn't being taken seriously.

"My defense is not futile! Nothing can break my barriers!" Tara shot back, gripping her katana tightly in both hands. "I refuse to let you through, no matter what!"

Mima chuckled at Tara's words. "Is that so? Would your barrier fall if you were to lose consciousness?"

"Of course not!"

"What if I rip the jewel from your head?" Mima asked, and Tara visibly flinched.

"T-that would not suffice..." Tara growled. Mima knew she had found the barrier's real weakness. She wasn't familiar with this type of Youkai, but the jewel seemed to be a blatantly obvious power source. If it were removed, chances are the girl's powers would leave her. As well as her life, possibly. However, Mima was trying a slightly different tactic.

"Furthermore, assuming you were to ward me from here successfully." Mima continued, pointing to the air behind her. "You'd be up against my rather skilled apprentice next. As things are, you wouldn't be able to handle an all powerful deity like me, as well as a gifted magician."

Tara glared and gritted her teeth as she tried to regain her breathe. It was taking a lot of her energy to maintain both the manor-wide barrier, and throw up walls strong enough to fend off this woman's magic. Of course, if this intruder were to fight Rena, she would most likely lose, but Tara wouldn't make a good guardian if she let this Youkai through under the context of 'you'll lose anyway'.

Regardless, she refused to give up here. It was her job to protect the manor at all costs. A job she would gladly fulfill for Christina. One she would reluctantly fulfill for Rena.

"Send as many weaklings as you want. You cannot win!" Tara declared bravely, holding her katana in a new stance. The blade was pointed to her right, held by her hip. Mima raised an eyebrow, wondering just what desperate attack this girl had planned.

"Nothing can survive the ultimate sword techniques I possess." Tara muttered just loud enough for Mima to hear. "Well, the victim is knocked out for weeks, but same difference."

With lightning fast speed, the Barrier Miden swung her sword diagonally left, a black, scar like mark appearing in the air.

"Zantetsuken: Demon Blade Bullet!" Tara yelled.

Immediately, blood red orbs flew from the black mark in the sky, shooting at Mima. She barely managed to avoid getting smacked over the head by one as she began to weave between the endless stream of bullets firing at her.

"Think that's bad? It's about to get harder!" Tara declared, feeling in control of the battle now. She swung her katana again, forming another mark paralell to the first one. Even more bullets shot towards Mima, who found herself seriously trying to avoid taking a hit.

"Okay, this isn't too bad!" Mima conceded, barely avoiding having her face smashed by a bullet. "But you'll need a hell of a lot more of these to hit me!"

"As you wish!" Tara swung her sword four more times. Now with six times the relentless bullets, Mima was practically garuanteed to take a hit or six. Marisa, speeding towards the battle, watched in awe and worry as she saw Mima become smothered in a storm of bullets.

"Wow... Come on, Miss Mima, I know this isn't enough to stop you..." The young magician muttered.

Tara, smiling with satisfaction, sheathed her blade. The marks were beginning to fade, and the bullets were finally stopping. Soon, the battered remains of the intruder would fall, and Tara could concentrate on that apprentice over there.

However, a small explosion changed that idea. From the blanket of bullets still converging on Mima's position, a green and yellow light was emitted. The bullets disintegrated to reveal an uninjured Mima, holding her crescent moon staff and a small grin.

"Before you ask, Bomb Spell." Mima informed the shocked Barrier Maiden. "I'm sure you'd agree it's a fine defense, if limited in usage."

"You... You think this means you'll win?" Tara growled, trying not to show the fatigue consuming her body. Using her Zantetsuken technique that many times was probably a bad idea, especially if she was planning on fighting a second opponent. But she had to stop this soul somehow! Even if it meant falling to the human, at least the intruders would have been weakened.

Mima shook her head and gave an exasperated sigh. "You're terribly ignorant of the difference in our powers, aren't you? You're tired out already, I'm not even trying. What do you think the outcome will be?"

"Miss Mima, why not just blast her like you did with wutshername? I thought we were hurrying?" Marisa asked, flying to Mima's side.

"Well, we've found their location, so I see no need to charge at full speed for now." Mima shrugged.

Tara was visibly shaking now. Partly with anger at herself for not being able to match her opponent, and partly from how tired she was. She was forced to draw out a large amount of energy to defend herself, and she wasted the remainer of said power on a completely ineffective assault. How could she ever face her Mistress after this?

Regardless, she was a servant of the Daidouji Manor until the end. She wouldn't let fatigue stop her.

Tara clasped her hand around the sword's hilt, ready to draw it out once again, but Mima moved swiftly, striking Tara's wrist with the moon side of the staff, then quickly pivoting the staff to strike her stomach with the other end. Tara fell onto her backside, still suspended on the barrier, gasping for breathe as she fell onto her back.

"Admit defeat already! Why do you want to die so badly?" Mima questioned, regarding the young Youkai lying on the 'ground' before her.

"I... serve my mistress... until the end!" Tara gasped, glaring up at Mima.

"You're no good to that freak dead." Mima stated bluntly. "You're the most annoying type of servant, you know that? You think dying is the best way to serve someone. How stupid of you."

Tara cast a questioning glance at Mima, who strolled the air around her. Marisa listened intently, wondering why she was busy berating the girl and not finishing her off. Genji was slowly catching up, his mind mostly cleared of pain and filled with ill thoughts of Marisa.

"...I don't know why you'd want to serve that person, judging from what I've seen of her." Mima continued, recalling with disdain their encounter the previous night. "But if she's so important to you that you'd be willing to die at the hands of a superior opponent, she'd better off without you."

Tara's eyes flared with fury and hurt at her words. She tried to clamber to her feet, but only managed to get to her knees, with a hand clutched to her still pained stomach. "Take that back! You know nothing!" She yelled at her.

"Rather than have a suicidal servant, it's better to have one who knows when to retreat. A servant who knows that she's beaten, and is willing to clear the path that her opponents have set upon."

"Ha! Just because you may have won, doesn't mean I should sell my Mistress out!" Tara spat. Mima shook her head.

"It's not selling out, it's accepting defeat with honour. Besides, I don't plan to kill your mistress. Just beat her to death a little for her insolence, and I'll be on my way."

"That, or she could blow the whole place away." Marisa chimed in. "Barrier and all. Trust me, Miss Mima's being incredibly generous for some reason."

Tara considered their words, unsure of what to do. They spoke under the impression she cared for Rena, but in actual fact, it was Christina she was worried for. That side of her was far too sweet, innocent and defenceless to allow anyone to harm her. Tara simply couldn't allow that to happen.

"...Even if I were to let you pass." Tara spoke at last, her gaze downcast. "You're still enemies, and my mistress is no fighter."

"Not a fighter? She's cowardly, but capable." Mima replied, sounding somewhat skeptic.

Tara shook her head. "No, I'm not talking about Rena. I mean Mistress Christina."

"Okay, we'll kick Rena's ass and leave the other one alone." Marisa reassured the maiden. "Well, unless she starts something, but I guess she won't?"

Again, Tara shook her head. "That's impossible. You can't harm one and not the other. They are one in the same."

Mima and Marisa gave each other a confused look, wondering what to make of this new information. The same person? As in, a split personality?

Genji finally arrived, glowering at Marisa as he did. "So, did I miss anything important?"

"Just a beat down and a shocking revelation." Marisa shrugged. "Might fill you in later."

Tara struggled to her feet, facing Mima. Her eyes no longer burned with anger, but fear. "I... can't let you pass without a final confrontation. However... when you do win, please, don't hurt Mistress Christina. She's innocent in all of this."

Mima regarded the Youkai for a moment, before shrugging. "Well, if that's what you want. Just ignore what I said earlier and charge to your death. Whatever, I just want inside your barrier there."

Tara slowly unsheathed her sword, keeping her eyes on Mima, who held her staff by her side limply. Tara knew it was a futile gesture of resistance, but she wanted to go opposing her Mistress' enemies, at least.

With a wave of her hand, Mima beckoned Marisa and Genji to back up. They complied, watching silently.

With the gem in her forehead dimming by the second, Tara launched into the air towards Mima, aiming to slice at her neck. The blade glowed a dull silver, the absolute last dregs of magic energy poured into her blade to harm Mima.

Almost casually, Mima parried the strike with her staff, using her free hand to strike Tara's forehead in a chopping motion. She struck the crystal, which immediately sent a jolt of pain through her entire body.

As Tara fell through the sky, her barrier dissolving and jewel dimming, she began to fade from consciousness. A tear escaped her left eye._ Mistress...Lyra... I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to stop them. Was I wrong in letting them pass? _She wondered briefly, before landing in a flower bed with a sickening crunch.

Marisa grimaced as she watched the Youkai fall and hit the ground. "Yikes. Painful sounding, that was."

"She'll live." Mima grunted. True, while that injury was indeed going to inconvenience the Youkai for a little while, it wasn't fatal. They were far tougher than humans, after all.

With the barrier gone, the trio saw what was really there: A huge clearing in the middle of the mountains, with a huge Mansion nearby and a ton of land, with several flower beds and ponds littered throughout.

"Interesting place of residence." Mima noted, heading for the mansion. Marisa and Genji followed close behind, gazing in wonder at the huge grounds around them.

"So, Reimu's in there?" Marisa wondered aloud. "Wonder if she's stuck in the basement, getting tortured to death right now? Or maybe she's getting first class treatment before a ritual murder?"

"Please, shut up." Genji pleaded, hoping that wasn't what was going on.

* * *

"More Visitors? Awesome!"

"Mistress, they're here to hurt you. They're fighting Tara right now."

Lyra was busy informing Christina of the danger they were in right now. It was a bit harder to do than it should be, seeing as Christina mistook 'intruders' as 'more visitors to play with'.

"Well, tell her to invite them inside! It's rude to keep them locked out!" Christina demanded.

Again, Lyra shook her head. "You're not listening. These are _bad people. _They might be trying to kill Tara right now!"

Chrisitna took this a little more seriously. "Kill Tara? That's... not good at all. Will she need help?"

"Possibly." Lyra replied. "I'll send some fairies to support her, but we'd best prepare for an attack on the manor itself."

Christina nodded, and Lyra turned to a group of fairies floating above them. They were all very simiar in appearance, being roughly a foot long, with blue, green or bright yellow hair and matching dreses. "You know what to do. Support Tara in her defense of the barrier."

"Right away!" The group replied in unison and flew off at high speeds.

"Hey, why are these people here, anyway? Are they after Reimu?" Christina asked.

Lyra nodded, wishing she didn't have to decieve her Mistress like this. "Yes, they seem to want to harm her. We will do whatever we can to protect you both."

Christina looked troubled as she regarded this information. She may be very childlike in appearance and manner, but even she could tell something wasn't right with what was going on.

Well, there was time for questions later. Right now, Christina would have to see to it her servants were ready to fight back. She hated the idea of fighting, but there was nowhere to run... except for the basement, but she didn't like holing up underground.

"Come, Mistress." Lyra took hold of Christina's hand and led her quickly down the manor's hallways, heading for the basement floors. It pained her to do so, as she recalled Rena's words the previous night upon her return.

_"There's a good chance this girl's friends will find this place."_ Rena had told Lyra as she threw Reimu onto the bed in the guest's bedroom. A sneer was on her face at the time. _"I'm guessing tomorrow evening, at the latest, but possibly morning, if they're fast enough. Try and stall them until midnight, will you?"_

Lyra had reluctantly complied. Whenever Rena awoke, it was never pleasant. Christina's horrible inflection turned her from the adorable, naive Christina to a hateful, scheming demon with a vendetta against Gensokyo. Lyra and the other servants had tried defying Rena before, but that was disastrous. Rena, being essentially another persona to Christina, had simply pierced her own body, nearly killing them both in retaliation. Christina had barely survived the horrible wound inflicted upon herself, and Lyra realized then that Rena could destroy everything they held dear if they disobeyed. Now, they were facing a situation that could kill everyone in Gensokyo...

Rena couldn't awaken whenever she wanted. It normally took her a decade to appear, and she would stay for roughly a month afterward, setting out to kill and destroy before she lost her energy and had to sleep deep within Christina's subconscious once again.

Obviously, Christina knew none of this. She was barely aware of the passing time (After all, what was one month to a Youkai who could potentially live for millenia?), but she sometimes had... uncharacteristic bouts of aggressiveness or depravity, unsure as to where these feelings came from.

Rena had come back again. Except this time, it was for a single night. From the little information she had divulged, she was saving her strength for 'Gensokyo's finale'. First, she needed the one person whose life was deeply connected to Gensokyo. Killing her was said to bring ruin to Gensokyo. This wasn't good enough for Rena. At midnight tonight, when Gensokyo's magic energy would peak with pure power, Rena planned to end Reimu's life then, erasing Gensokyo from existence from the backlash, as well as any chance to rebuild. Rena wanted absolute destruction.

Lyra understood nothing of Rena's motives, only that she was insane and held Christina's life in her hands. Defy or obey, they would lose Christina. The only diffrence was whether or not Lyra and the others lived to grieve.

"Down here." Lyra led Christina to the stairs leading to the basement. "I'll bring Reimu here shortly. Please wait."

"Please hurry." Christina replied, taking a few steps down. With a quick bow, Lyra hurried back to Reimu's room. A fairy caught up to her, looking horribly frightened.

"I-it's bad, Lyra!" The fairy screeched. "Tara's-Tara's down! The barrier too! The intruders are making their way here right now!"

Lyra cursed under her breathe. They had beaten Tara so easily? This was bad. She doubted Anya nor herself were strong enough to hold these intruders until midnight if Tara was already beaten. Twelve hours was a lot to ask for...

"Then you support Anya! I don't care if you have to flash them, just distract them somehow!" Lyra ordered, now running up the stairs. Countless years of service had built the maid's stamina up to impressive levels. These stairs were nothing to her.

"yes miss!" The fairy flew off to support their last line of defense outside. Anya was a powerful Youkai, with the ability to disable opponents with her illusions. With any luck, they would be distracted by fabrications just long enough...

"Miss Hakurei!" Lyra burst through the door. Reimu, staring outside the huge, barred windows, glanced back.

"I thought I told you to call me 'Reimu'." She said. "So, something up? I think I hear a commotion outside."

The room Reimu was staying in overlooked the grounds at a slight angle, facing northwest. the intruders were out of sight from here.

"There appears to be an attack from some troublesome Youkai." Lyra replied, hoping her lie was convincing. "I've been tasked with leading you to a safer location until the situation is resolved."

"But I just got here!" Reimu groaned. "I think I'll stay here. I highly doubt I'll end up getting hurt anyway."

"I must insist." Lyra continued assertively. Reimu glanced at her questioningly. What was the big deal? So some random Youkai wanted to start something, what were the odds it would end up involving her?

Although, Reimu knew that Lyra would most likely drag Reimu away if she refused. Her tone of voice suggested that Reimu absolutely must leave, which was kind of suspicious, but it wasn't anything Reimu could do anything about right now.

"Fine, fine..." Reimu sighed, walking out the room. Lyra led her back down the long hallway, down the steps, and more hallways.

"So, what's the Youkai giving you trouble?" Reimu asked conservationally.

"Apparently, some form of wolf Youkai." Lyra replied. "Their kind sometimes attack to find food. Occasionally they make their way inside, which is why it's necessary to hide in the basement floors."

"Right..." Reimu wondered if this was another one of the lies being fed to her. Reimu highly doubted that any random Youkai could invade this place, and she was quite sure Lyra or some other servant were capable of handling local threats. Otherwise, this was a crappy area to live in.

Lyra had reached the door that led down to the basement. The stairs were surprisingly well lit.

"Mistress Christina is already down there." Lyra informed Reimu. "So at least you won't be lonely."

"Goody." Reimu said, making her way down. She saw another door at the bottom of the stairs. Lyra watched as Reimu descended, entering the room below.

Once the door closed, it glowed with many intricate lines and patterns, indicating a sealing spell which spread across the whole room. Nothing could get in or out, unless you were immensely strong.

"...My sincerest apologies." Lyra muttered to the closed door, although the statement was directed at Reimu. It was earlier than she would have liked, but now that she was there, it was to be her final resting place.

* * *

"Lots'a fairies around." Marisa noted, pointing to the next line of defense that stood before the group.

Dozens of tiny creatures barred their path, looking mostly terrified. A few had seen how easily Mima defeated Tara, and the rest knew that the Barrier Maiden's defeat was a bad sign. Forget the human magician and the possibly senile old turtle, that ghost could take out everyone present in an instant!

"There'll be a lot fewer in a few moments." Mima promised with a slight grin. "Unless you lot actually have brains and want to run away?"

"W-we're the proud defenders of Daidouji Manor! Nothing gets past us!" One of the fairies squeaked, to the reluctant and half hearted cheers of its comrades.

Mima rolled her eyes. "I take it everyone here is an unbeatable guardian for this dump." She muttered.

Suddenly, a voice boomed in the air around them. "Dump? DUMP! I won't let such a horrendous insult go unpunished!"

"And the next boss arrives." Genji muttered, grimacing from the ringing voice. "That was pretty quick."

Marisa and Mima looked around the area, trying to determine were the voice came from. Marisa looked to the sky, seeing a rapidly falling figure. "Uh, I think that's our next opponent there."

The figure fell past the group and came crashing to the ground, sending a powerful thud through the air, along with some clumps of dirt and grass kicked from the ground upon impact. The person who had crashed to the ground, feet first, was a golden haired girl, wearing a black blouse with a matching eye patch over her right eye, and several ribbons tied along her arms and in her hair. She was also barefoot, for some reason, and holding a thick, leather bound book in her arms.

The newcomer glared at the trio with her visible blue eye. "Today's an unlucky day for you. You face the ultimate opponent! In mere moments, I can have you wallowing in your deepest despair!"

"Good for you." Mima replied. "Now, step aside."

The girl frowned. "I... think you misunderstood me. I'm going to end your assault on our manor right now."

"Try it!" Marisa challenged, floating closer to the girl. "We've kicked your Barrier Maiden's ass, what makes you any better?"

The girl smirked slightly, opening the tome in her hands. "You're... that soul's apprentice or something, huh?"

"Uh-huh. And?"

"Then this'll do just fine." The girl continued. She began to chant phrases, probably from the book in her hands.

_"Despair surrounded the aspiring young magician as she stood alone in the forest of dead trees and wild life. Hope had long since disappeared that her most precious friends would come back for her. They had lied. They had lied just to be rid of her, casting her away in this godforsaken land..."_

"The hell are you talking about?" Marisa asked, then swayed on her broomstick when a sudden dizziness overcame her. She tried to shake it off, but that only made it worse. She closed her tries, trying to regain her senses, but she felt as if she were slipping away.

Vaguely, she heard two voices shouting her name. _Miss Mima? Genji? _She struggled to open her eyes, wondering just what had happened.

_"Eventually, the emptiness that replaced hope was, in turn, replaced by loathing. Did she truly deserve to be alone? Were they so perfect that she herself simply couldn't fit in? What made them so specal? Why weren't they the ones abandoned in this place?"_

Mima saw Marisa begin to falter and fall to the ground, suprised at what was happening. How was that girl doing that? Cursing, she flew after Marisa, catching her before she fell to the ground and gently lay her down on the grass before facing the girl with the book. The fairies cheered in relief and renewed morale as Genji dropped to the ground beside Marisa.

"This magic... It's incredibly old and obscure..." Genji said in amazement. "This girl... She has the power to fabricate illusions like some sort of story! Mima, do not let her get to your head!"

"As if that were possible." Mima growled, glaring at the girl with the book, who had finished chanting the phrases and was now grinning at Mima.

"Hm, A Soul, eh? Tricky..."

The girl turned a page, and began reading again. "_Gone. Gone was her apprentice, whom she had devoted her precious time to. Gone was her enemy, whom she loved to clash with. Gone were the faces she recognised and sought comfort in. The world had changed, but she had not. A simple passage of time had not caused this, but..."_

Mima shot forward, her staff clutched in her hands, ready to strike. "You think I want to listen to your childish stories?" She roared.

The fairies reacted quickly, flitting in front of the girl and each casting a weak shield spell. Of course, a fairy's magic was nothing to Mima, but when cast simultaniously, it took more than a second to break. She swung her staff, the crescent moon temporarily repelled by the magic it clashed with.

_"It was then she realized; this was the world she had envisioned. A world with no attachments. No enemies. Nothing. The world she aimed to create was here, and it was nothing like she had dreamed off. But too late, was her mistake known. Now, she was doomed to wander alone, forever..._

Mima had blasted the fairies away, but it was too late. The same dizzying sensation that had overcome Marisa had now gripped Mima, and she slumped as she desperately tried to attack the girl with the eye patch. She floated two paces, before her staff dissolved into shining stars, and she herself fell to the ground, falling into a deep sleep.

"...But not tricky enough." The girl muttered with a slight grin.

"Well, crap." Genji muttered as the girl now turned her sight to him. He began quaking as she walked nearer, crouching in front of the frightened old turtle.

"Since you're harmless, I'll give you a choice." the girl told him sweetly. "You can either dream with these guys - and I'll even make it an awesome one! - Or you can walk off home. Or live in one the ponds, just as long as you stay out of the way, 'kay?"

Genji didn't know what to do. He couldn't trust the girl would let him go, live here, or give him a peaceful dream, and he had no fighting ability of his own. Curse his great, expansive knowledge! What good was it if he couldn't apply it practically?

But he was here to save Lady Reimu. If Mima and Marisa had fallen, that simply meant he alone must continue the rescue operation!

As the girl had went to pick up the gohei strapped to his shell, he did the one thing he could to fight back - bite the girl's outstretched arm. His teeth clamped around the skin of her fore arm. The girl yelped and pulled back her arm. Genji let go as she fell onto her backside, clutching at the bite mark. She looked from Genji to her arm in shock, the book fallen to the ground beside her, and did something Genji didn't expect.

She began to cry.

The girl's eye had teared up and she suddenly began wailing. Genji flinched and immediately felt ashamed he had hurt this girl, despite the nightmares she had trapped the other two in.

"T-t-t-that huuuuuuuuuurt!" the girl cried, rolling from side to side. Genji was at a loss for words. He didn't know what to say or do exactly.

"I-I'm sorry! I just... We're enemies and... you were-"

"I just wanted t-to look at the stiiiick!" The girl cried back, meaning the Gohei. One of the fairies, probably roused by the noise, had flown over to the girl's side, and began trying to calm her down.

"There there, Lady Anya... It's okay, the mean turtle didn't bite you that deeply..." The fairy cooed, and Genji felt another pang of guilt. As if he had just hit an infant over a trivial accident.

"B-but it hurts!" Anya sniffed, cradling her wounded arm. The fairy convinced her to let her see the wound. The extent was a few teeth marks, no drawn blood. The girl had pretty much overreacted.

Once Anya had her crying under control, the fairy turned to Genji, flames of intense fury burning in her eyes. "Well, I hope you're happy mister! A grown turtle like you, bullying poor, sweet little Anya like that! You deserve getting flipped onto your shell for this!"

"I'm sorry!" Genji apologized again. I was just- just protecting myself! Besides, look what she's done to my companions!"

"There's a difference between harmless illusions and bodily harm!" the fairy argued, and Genji found he had no real arguement.

Anya picked up her tome, glaring at Genji reproachfully. "Since you're just a mean old fossil, I'll have to give you an extra terrible punishment!" She threatened, her voice trembling with rage and hurt.

"...Well, crap." Genji muttered.


	6. Chapter 6 Loneliness

_I'm all alone_...

Marisa groaned softly as she slowly opened her heavy eyelids. Her head felt muddled, pained from a dull headache.

"Huh? What happened there...?" Marisa mumbled, trying to remember what happened before she fell asleep.

_They left me here..._

Marisa forced herself to her knees, looking around the area. It was filled with dead, scrawny trees, remains of old leaves littered the floor of... it had to be a forest, but why was she here? Marisa was sure she wasn't in a forest before she fell asleep.

_They left me all alone in this place..._

Thoughts were invading Marisa's mind. The young magician was sure it wasn't her thinking these pharases, but they were in her head all the same, simply adding to her confusion and fear.

"H-hello? Anyone here?" Marisa croaked. Her throat felt dry, and she coughed.

_Why? Why did they leave me here?_

Marisa's head was a mess. Foreign thoughts were mixing with the murky cloud that shrouded her memories of what had just happened. Had she always been in the dead forest? If so, for how long?

_Was I really so hateful? Did I really deserve this?_

"Shut up!" Marisa growled to her own mind, staggering to her feet. She noticed that her clothing was very... worn. The black robes had faded in many areas to some sort of dull grey, with many patchy holes to accompany them. Marisa reached up to feel her hat, which she found had the tip ripped off, leaving a small hole to her hair from above.

_Whatever I did, I'm sorry... I just want to see them again..._

"Miss Mima...? Reimu...?" Marisa called out again, looking through the desolate area. "...Genji? Anyone?"

No answer. Not even the sound of wind or wildlife was present. It was as if Marisa was the only living creature there.

_Why should I be sorry? I did nothing wrong, did I?_

"Who's doing that!" Marisa pressed her hands to her ears, as if that would stop thoughts from entering her brain. She was sure they weren't her own thoughts. She had no reason to think these things!

_Why should I suffer alone if they're no better than I am?_

Marisa fell back onto her knees, tears threatening to escape her eyes. "Stop it! Go away or I'll hunt you down and blast you!"

Her threat hung in the empty air. Surprisingly, the thoughts seemed to stop, as nothing more was invading her brain. Marisa breathed deeply, and exhaled, forcing herself to calm down.

"Okay... Gotta clear my head somehow..." Marisa muttered, once more getting to her feet and began walking in some random direction that Marisa decided was north.

The young magician walked slowly, trying to uncover her memories. She recalled... being with Mima... and Reimu? Was that right?

A scene slowly unfolded before her eyes. She was facing Reimu and Miss Mima... and they had cold, sneering looks. Marisa remembered feeling hurt, scared... betrayed...

_"I've had it with this simpleton." _Mima had snorted. _"She's a weak little freak who thought she could become strong through me. How pathetic."_

_"I can't stand her scrounging any more."_ Reimu nodded, and they both turned to leave.

"W-wait! Stop! Please, don't leave me here!" Marisa had screamed, her feet rooted to the ground._ "I-I can change! Please, come back...!"_

_"_That never happened!" Marisa screamed to to the sky, her whole body shaking.

Why? Why did that image come to her head? It couldn't be true, could it?

And yet, the cloud that hid her memories seemed to be dissolving. Was that really the case then? Miss Mima and Reimu had taken Marisa to this dead land and left her to rot?

_What makes them so perfect? What keeps them from this place?_

Marisa didn't want to believe it was true, yet her mind was dead set on telling her it was. She recalled countless hours of crying, wandering, searching desperately for an exit that didn't seem to exist.

_Okay, I lie. I steal. Of course I do, I'm only human after all._

Marisa could feel more tears coming. She didn't want to cry, it served no purpose, but the urge was powerful. She couldn't make sense of it. Why was she trapped here, all alone? Why did Miss Mima and Reimu leave her here?

_Miss Mima has plotted to kill, and treats everyone like dirt. Reimu is a short tempered idiot who probably steals money to buy bread. What makes them so much better?_

Marisa could feel another emotion welling up inside her. Hate. She felt hatred for her fate, and for those who had deliver that fate. It wasn't fair! No one deserved this, to live in solitude amongst death!

_I hate Reimu Hakurei. I hate Mima. They deserve this fate more than me! I deserve nothing but happiness for what they've done to me..._

_

* * *

_

"Working like a charm. Better than I thought." Anya noted smugly.

* * *

Mima watched the Hakurei Shrine from the top of the stone steps, disbelieving. It wasn't possible! It couldn't be possible! There was no way...

The Shrine was not there. It was just an empty piece of land. It was as if nothing was ever here to begin with. Reimu was nowhere in sight. What was going on?

Mima's mind was a mess. She couldn't remember what she had been doing prior to coming to the shrine's location, but was certain it had to do with Reimu.

_Where did they go?_

It was obvious something was very wrong. There was no reason for Reimu and the Shrine to be gone. Had they been moved somehow? Fallen into some huge portal and ended up in Makai or Hell?

_Why did they all disappear?_

These thoughts... They surely weren't her own. But what troubled Mima more was the plural that the thoughts used. 'They'? As in, 'Reimu and that old turtle', or 'Reimu and Marisa'?

Mima turned and glided towards the Forest of Magic. Marisa had recently found a place to live in there. It was a small, cramped little place that made the Hakurei Shrine look luxurious, but it was still a home for Marisa. At the very least, she could store all that stuff she borrowed from others.

It didn't take Mima too long to reach the area where Marisa's home was located. After all, she had the distinct advantage of being able to flit through trees, which made navigation simpler. However, Mima saw no home. Just a bunch of trees.

"Clearly, I got lost..." Mima muttered, mostly to reassure herself. She felt that it was the right spot, but she didn't want to believe it.

_My wish came true..._

Mima circled the area of the forest she was in, hoping to see the small building through the trees and leaves and whatever other plant life got in the way, but there was no sign of it, as if it had disappeared along with the Hakurei Shrine.

_They really are gone..._

"They can't be." Mima stated simply to her mind, stopping her search. It was impossible. There was no way that both Reimu and Marisa could disappear, along with their homes. It made no sense!

Perhaps someone in the village would know? Mima hated the idea of asking idiots like them were those two had gone, but she had little other option. It wasn't like the wild Youkai of this forest would know anything beyond primal instincts.

The green haired soul travelled to the village, trying to determine the girl's disappearance along the way.

_They're gone, but I don't think I like it..._

"And just what the hell is going through my mind?" Mima growled, rubbing her forehead. These thoughts... Mima was sure they weren't hers, yet they came from her perspective. It was maddening, having to listen to these inane thoughts.

_Did I really grow so attached to them? Did I really grow so weak?_

Mima arrived at the village, which thankfully, still existed. A few people wandered the streets, running errands or simply taking a walk. She stopped a young man passing by.

"Human, you wouldn't happen to know what happened to the shrine, would you?" Mima asked.

The man gave Mima a quizzical look. "Shrine? I don't think we've ever had one. There should be, but... it never got built, I guess?"

Mima glared at the human for a few seconds. Never got built? What the hell did that mean? That someone couldn't bother their ass making a shrine, and it resulted in Reimu Hakurei never being born or something? In fact...

"Okay, do you know anyone by the name of Reimu Hakurei... Or even Marisa Kirisame?" Mima tried to keep the hope from her voice.

The man shook his head. "Nope, sorry. You could try the village pub just down there." He pointed to a building behind him. "If they aren't visitors there, someone's bound to know 'em from somewhere. They should serve Youkai like you as well."

Without another word, Mima headed for the village pub, her hopes quickly diminishing. She tried to reassure herself that either someone was screwing with her, or that the two were still here somewhere. If she had fallen into an alternate reality, maybe they were still around, perhaps with a different role in life. Like Reimu the Village Beggar or Marisa the Archmage of Gensokyo.

However, there was no luck at the dingy pub either. Everyone she asked was either drunk, or hadn't ever heard of them. Mima made her way to the village border, looking at the late afternoon sky in confusion.

"How can they not be here? What's going on?" Mima asked herself.

_I feel so lost without them. I need them with me..._

"I... I don't." Mima argued with herself. "I don't need them. I was just... surprised, that's all. I don't need them at all."

Mima knew she was simply lying to herself. She had admitted earlier that she relied on Reimu to relieve boredom, right? And Marisa was actually kind of fun to be with. Sure, she could be annoying sometimes, and she had this annoying habit of attracting trouble by not returning items, but she was pretty lively. Mima had come to see her less as an apprentice... and more like a daughter.

For them both to be gone... Just what exactly happened?

_My wish came true, and now I wish it didn't._

Mima processed that last thought. She wished for this? No, that wasn't true. There was a time were she may have wanted to kill Reimu, but that was in the past, and she certainly never wished for her apprentice to disappear from existence. No, something wasn't right... and the answer was lurking in the shroud of memories she couldn't penetrate...

* * *

"Yikes, a bit tougher to trick, this one. I dunno if she'll hold for twelve hours..." Anya noted nervously.

* * *

Genji could only describe his situation as hell.

He was upside down, laying on his shell. For the past several weeks, it had been nothing but laying on his shell, struggling to even so much as twitch to one side in a desperate attempt to righten himself. If only he were centuries younger! He could barrel roll several times onto his feet if necessary! But alas, his old age held him back. It was a wonder he hadn't died of starvation or dehydration yet. Maybe some demented monster was keeping him alive somehow, just so Genji could continue to suffer.

"Help?" Genji knew asking for assistance was futile. After all, he was in the middle of nowhere. All he could see was dirt where the sky should be, and sky where the dirt should be. Not a human or Youkai in sight.

Genji wondered exactly how he had gotten into this situation. All he knew was what these thoughts drifting through his head said.

_If only I had the strength... this is so humiliating..._

_Is this payback for some cruel act of mine?_

_Oh, woe is me._

_Serves me right._

Genji tried rocking himself back and forth, once more attempting to roll onto his feet, but it was useless. He barely moved for several minutes before giving up.

"No one deserves this..." Genji sighed sadly.

* * *

_"_That'll teach you for biting my arm off!" Anya taunted smugly.

"But... he didn't even break your skin." The fairy with Anya noted. "Sure, he deserves some punishment for being mean, but still..."

Anya pouted at the fairy. "Hey, you don't know what it's like to be attacked by a savage animal! It was a traumatising experience for me!"

The fairy looked at the old turtle, whose defeated expression revealed no savagery. Anya was an odd one, all right. She lived a life of brutality before coming to this manor, but the slightest hint of pain had her bawling like a newborn child...

Anya and the fairies had moved the trio after they fell under Anya's spell (The fairies all moved Genji. Anya refused to touch him) to one of the manor's spare rooms. The place had no real containment area (Because apparently there wouldn't be a situation that required imprisoning) and Lyra had cast the best sealing magic she knew. If the soul operated at full power, she could no doubt undo the seal, but it was reassuring to have some security.

Anya and a few fairies were now tasked with watching over the intruders as they slept. Anya was there by necessity, of course, sitting on an armchair overlooking the three beds they were placed on. She had to try and maintain the illusions as best she could. The fairies offered moral support and conversation, lest Anya grow bored and fall asleep, especially since the items that the turtle held were nothing all that interesting after all.. Lyra promised to drop in whenever she could, although tending to Tara and making sure that Reimu and Christina remained sealed within the basement took up much of her time.

Only an hour had passed, now just roughly eleven more to go. Anya tried not to show it, but she was scared. Mistress Christina's dark half, Rena, was planning to kill everyone in Gensokyo, which would include every one of them. Anya didn't want to die, but neither did she have the courage to fight Rena. That ended badly last time, and she was quite sure Rena would easily dispel her illusions.

These intruders... They were essentially trying to stop her. By rescuing that Shrine Maiden, they could foil Rena's plan, but that implied they were strong enough to stand up to her. Anya didn't doubt they were strong (Well, the turtle definitely wasn't, but whatever), but she also didn't doubt they had nothing on Rena. The power she demonstrated was insane.

"Anya? Are you okay?" One of the fairies asked, snapping Anya out of her thoughts. She blinked her visible eye in confusion.

"Eh? Oh, right, sure." Anya smiled slightly. "Just thinking about stuff..."

"I'd advise being careful. Daydreaming could weaken the spell and all hell could break loose!" The fairy warned. Anya nodded in response, clasping her hands together atop the leather bound book in her lap.

Anya's ability was rather unique. She could essentially trap people in an illusion created by her writing. She could write 'The young man was blind', and anyone she read it to would fall asleep and dream of being blind. Of course, it would have to be directed at a young man, or it would be completely ineffective.

Anya had discovered the ability completely by accident. Lyra had taught her how to read and write when she saw Anya's interest in their library. Eventually, Anya tried writing her own story in a huge, blank leather book. It was a rushed story with Lyra as the main character, which she happily read aloud. Until Lyra fell asleep.

When Lyra had finally awoken and assured Anya it wasn't because she found the story boring, and recounted the dream that played out just like her story, she experimented a bit more, writing different scenarios and trying it on the other residents. Finally, after weeks of writing, her limits were determined.

The leather bound book was absolutely filled with random short stories or poems she wrote, hoping to write in every possible scenario she would need against opponents - like an abandoned friend or lonely master - and memorising the pages they appeared in. Anya hoped to find another one of these books, since any old piece of paper simply wouldn't do, neither would proper novels work.

"You're daydreaming again!" The fairy clicked its fingers under Anya's nose, trying to regain her attention.

"Wha-? Uh, no I wasn't!"

"Please focus! It'd be a nightmare if they broke free right now!"

Anya lowered her gaze to the book on her lap. "Would that really be so bad? They're here to get the miko, and that would stop Rena."

The fairy looked at Anya as if she'd just suggested genocide of all life. "Something's really wrong with you today! No one can stand up to... that... that monster! And what if she tries to hurt Christina again!"

Anya had no answer, and simply resumed gazing at the book. The fairy lowered herself onto Anya's shoulder, patting her head sympathetically.

"I know this is hard for you." The fairy said. "We're all basically trapped between two extremes. Either Christina dies, or we all die along with her..."

"... I wish I could understand Rena." Anya muttered. "I wish I could know why she wants to do this..."

* * *

"I'm telling you, there's nothing fishy going on!" Christina whined to the angry Shrine Maiden.

Reimu wasn't sure how long it had been since she descended those basement stairs, but it was far too long for her. How long did these Youkai attacks take? Ha! Of course there wasn't any Youkai attacking. It was just some stupid trick to lure Reimu down here. And with Christina too, which was going to lead to some annoyances with her incessant talking.

"Oh yeah? Then why are we the only ones down here? Why has no one unlocked that stupid door?" Reimu challenged.

Christina thought for a moment. The brightly lit basement did nothing to betray the blush slowly rising in her face.

"Yeah, we _are_ alone down here..." Christina muttered, a dreamy smile on her face.

"Okay, seriously, it was creepy the first time, but having those thoughts about someone you met not even a day ago is twisted." Reimu said, taking a step away from the girl.

Christina pouted. "What? I'm just kidding around. Adult humour, you know?"

"There's nothing 'adult' about it." Reimu argued. "You're just a kid trying to act grown up."

Christina maintained her pout, and decided to stare silently at a wall. With her underground companion now not speaking, Reimu decided to wander the basement for the six billionth time.

The place was more like an extra floor. There were several rooms for wine storage, for dusty old objects long broken and forgotten, and even a bathroom, which would come in handy if no one fished them out of this stupid basement.

_Why go to the trouble of giving me a room if they're sticking me down here? _Reimu wondered. It seemed pointless to be so hospitable, only to shove her out the way soon after. Maybe something did happen up there? Maybe...

_Nah. I can't imagine they would come help... _Reimu thought doubtfully. Would they? Sure, Marisa and Mima hung around her shrine, but...

Reimu wandered into another room, filled with what looked like grave stones. She found it a rather odd location to find a graveyard.

Stepping up to the closest stone, she read 'Yamato Daidouji. Original owner of the Manor'.

There was six gravestones in all, each of them a member of the Daidouji family. Going by the amount of dust gathered, these graves were practically ancient. Well, considering how long Youkai could live, it wasn't a surprise.

"This room's kinda depressing." Reimu turned her head to see Christina, who looked at the graves sorrowfully.

"Death tends to dampen a lot of things." Reimu agreed. "Although, it would probably help if these were outside."

Christina nodded. "Maybe, but the second head didn't want to look at the first's grave, and somehow, everyone else ended up having their stones confined here."

"That needs changing." Reimu said, walking towards Christina.

Again, Christina nodded. She was silent for a moment, contemplating what to say.

"I don't think I make a great owner." She finally spoke.

"...I don't know what to say." Reimu admitted. "From what I've seen, you seem to do fine." _Besides all the lying and stuff..._

"The family isn't usually this big." Christina said, walking into the room and past Reimu. "The head, Lyra, and maybe an extra servant, if the head has a friend."

Lyra stopped in front of the last grave. Her expression showed a hint of grief.

"The servants are family? That's convenient." Reimu noted.

"Well, we call each other family." Lyra explained. "Because... That's what it feels like. Especially if we're cooped up in here day after day."

"Why is that anyway?"

Christina simply shrugged. "I don't know exactly. They say the outside world is dangerous. And I need so much more protection than the previous owners..."

"But nobody knows what the outside world is l- Oh, you mean Gensokyo." Reimu realised that anywhere outside the manor would mean 'outside world' to this girl.

"What is it like, exactly? I'd like to know." Lyra faced Reimu with an expression mixed between excitement and fear. She wanted to know if the world truly was as bad as the others made it out to be. From her early memories, she recalled one or two scenes of being alone, and the feeling of pure terror. Was that accurate?

"Well... I guess it depends." Reimu answered uncertainly. "The villages are safe, and for the most part, the more dangerous Youkai keep to secluded areas and rarely hunt others."

Christina thought for a moment. "So... It's okay to go out?"

"Well, I've no idea what this area is like."

The two girls were silent for a moment, unsure of what to say next.

"Reimu... This morning, you said something about being brought here by a 'Rena' person... What's she like?" Christina asked, and Reimu watched the young Youkai closely. Why was she asking this now? Was this a lead to the revelation that she was really Rena?

"...From what I remember..." Reimu muttered, recalling last night once again. "She was strong, although that might be because of her pre emptive strike."

_Hey Mima, you didn't respond well to that surprise attack. _Reimu thought, a small smile on her face.

"And she... was a bit similar to you. Kinda." Reimu watched Christina's reaction. She looked surprised and intrigued.

"Does this have to do with wanting me to change my hair?" She asked, and Reimu nodded.

"Yeah. You two are eerily similar. I'd like to know why." Reimu was trying to bait Christina into admitting something. At least then, things would make a bit more sense. There was no way Christina couldn't know Rena, when they could very well be the same person!

"... I wonder." Christina walked to to the far wall and leaned her back against it. "Sometimes... I feel things I don't know are really my feelings. Like... someone else is projecting their feelings onto me. It's always anger or sadness..."

_This could be something..._ Reimu thought as she watched Christina. While she wasn't sure why Rena would feel anger or sadness, it could have something to do with what she had said last night. _"I want your life."_

"And sometimes, I have blackouts." Christina continued. "They're about a month or so long, usually. Most times, I don't even notice, but whenever a season changes overnight, that's a bit of a tip off.

"And Lyra... and everyone else, they usually look relieved to see me, even though they try to hide it. They say nothing happened, that I slept for an extra day or two if I try and press them."

Christina pressed her head against the wall. "I know I'm not exactly smart, but I wish they'd be honest with me a-ah!"

The young Youkai stumbled forward, hearing a rumble and feeling the wall behind her give way. Reimu and Christina watched, surprised, as the wall rose to reveal a passage way. Christina must have pressed a certain part of the wall with her head.

"... Did we always have that there?" Christina wondered aloud. Reimu glanced at Christina, wondering if this was part of a set up. It was too coincidental, Christina finding a hidden room she knew nothing about while hinting that she may be Rena during some black out...

Christina approached the passage and peered inside. It was pitch black, unlike the rest of the basement, but a bright light could be seen at the end of the tunnel.

_That's gonna be a fitting description for later if my suspicions are correct..._ Reimu thought.

"Wanna see what's inside?" Christina sounded excited, the last few moments of seriousness apparently forgotten.

"Not really. Quite sure it would be sheer idiocy to walk in there." Reimu replied reluctantly.

Christina simply shrugged and rushed inside. Reimu watched her go, conflicted between staying out and making sure that girl didn't get hurt or something. After a moment, Reimu heard a resounding 'Woooooow...' from deep within.

"...Okay, a little look." Reimu muttered to herself, and followed Christina.


	7. Chapter 7 Obligatory Teasing

Reimu followed the small dark passage cautiously, wondering why she was even doing so. Everything pointed to this room being a trap. Christina just so happening to find a secret passage, right after all but declaring 'I AM RENA!'? Oh, and for added bonus points, they just left a room which acted as a graveyard for previous owners of this place. Totally subtle.

But still, it was hard to distrust Christina. Unless she had godly acting powers on top of super hair growth, she genuinely didn't know anything about Rena, or what brought Reimu here. She just seemed happy to have a new face around.

Emerging in a medium sized, stone walled room, Reimu saw Christina staring at something straight ahead.

Over by the far wall, on a raised platform, was some sort of table. It looked big enough for a person to lie on, and on either side of the table was a weird, black pole.

"Is this a spare room?" Christina wondered aloud, walking towards the table. Reimu followed, keeping a cautious eye on Christina.

They reached the table, and the two noticed a lone, silver and gold curved dagger lying on top of it.

Reimu took one look at the knife, and picked it up.

"... Heh. Guess this where 'she' intends to claim my life." Reimu muttered with a small, cold smile.

"'She'?" Christina asked, her eyes on the knife. For some reason, it stirred something in her mind, as if she were familiar with the blade. The young Mistress knew that it wasn't something she wanted to see, but couldn't identify why.

Reimu's eyes met Christina's. The young Shrine Maiden studied her carefully, trying to determine once and for all if Christina was who she said she was. Did she really know nothing of this place? Everything was too coincidental for that to be true, but Reimu simply couldn't bring herself to doubt the young Youkai.

"Going by the fancy curves and colours, I guess this thing is either ornamental... Or used for rituals." Reimu mused. Christina simply looked curious and somewhat apprehensive, perhaps not sure if she wanted to know exactly what rituals Reimu had in mind.

"And this room is hidden somewhere in this mansion's basement..." Reimu continued. "Clearly, whatever's supposed to happen down here must be kept absolutely secret."

Christina gulped. "I hope you're not building up to my horrible murder. That would kinda suck."

Reimu smiled slightly, lowering the blade from her eye level. "It would. Do you trust me enough to hang on to this?"

"I... think so." Christina kept her eyes on the blade a moment longer. "Do you promise not to use that?"

"Duh. Why would I want to kill anyone?" Reimu asked, slipping the dagger into one of the blouse's pockets. She hated carrying the blade with her, but it was better to make sure Christina or Rena, wherever she was, didn't end up taking it themselves. Just in case.

"Then you have my permission!" Christina announced brightly. She hopped onto the table in a seated position. "...Still, I don't like the idea of having this room in my home..."

"How could you not know about it?" Reimu asked. Christina simply shrugged.

"No one told me, I guess. Lyra once said the original owner was a bit eccentric, and some of the rooms were rather... mind boggling when first built."

"The first successor was a lot more normal, and renovated most of the manor, although I guess she missed this place." Christina glanced around the empty room with a grimace. "I really hope this was just another meaningless waste of space."

_Yeah, not likely..._ Reimu thought grimly. There was a knife in here, after all. Judging from the lack of dust, it was recently placed in here.

Christina could feel her mind starting to sway, as it sometimes did, as if she had been overcome by a sudden fatigue and she needed to sleep immediately.

Reimu noticed Christina clenching her eyes shut. "Hey, what's up with you?"

"I- I don't know... I'm just a little tired." Christina muttered. Reimu's intuition told her this wasn't good. For Christina to suddenly tire like this... something must be happening to her, and Reimu very much did not want Christina to suddenly transform into some sort of possessed puppet.

"Make sure you stay awake!" Reimu urged, grabbing Christina's shoulder's and shaking her slightly. "It's really important that you do!"

"O-okay...?" Christina looked confused as she tried to stay awake. Why was Reimu acting like this? Surely she could get a few minutes of sleep...

She felt so tired... This wasn't new to Christina. There were times when her energy would simply leave her, leaving Christina tired beyond belief. She didn't know why.

However, it could be related to her black outs... And judging by Reimu's insistence that she not fall asleep, something bad would happen.

It was tough for the young Youkai to keep her eyes open. Her body was sagging, with only Reimu supporting her. No matter how hard she fought, sleep was overpowering her.

_Please close your eyes. It'll make you feel much better... _A nostalgic, yet unfamiliar voice spoke in her head. Christina hadn't heard voices in her head before, but this didn't matter. The voice sounded soothing and trustworthy. Before she knew it, she was dozing off.

"Hey! Wake up! I am NOT willing to deal with whatever pops out your dreams!" Reimu yelled, roughly shaking the girl again. No use, her head simply lolled back and forth, doing nothing to deter the deepening sleep Christina fell into.

With her efforts to wake Christina now futile, Reimu simply sighed in defeat, and allowed Christina to lie on the table. Quickly, the Shrine Maiden stepped back, a hand in her pocket, touching the dagger. She really hoped she wouldn't have to use it...

* * *

**Six Hours Later**

"You did well, Tara." Lyra told the injured Barrier Maiden.

The maid sat by Tara's bed, stroking her hand. She had been brought back into the mansion by the fairies, immediately taken to the nearest room in the mansion. There, Tara had lay unconscious for several hours as her body slowly mended.

Lyra had been at her side for most of her slumber, annoyed with herself. She hadn't done enough to help Tara... It was lucky the intruders hadn't aimed to kill her, because it looked like they had the power. Those intruders... Lyra hadn't expected them to defeat Tara so easily. Ever since she joined their little family, she had shown exceptional growth. From a timid and abused child, to a grown, powerful Youkai with impenetrable barriers and great swordsmanship. For them to defeat Tara so quickly was a huge shock.

Tara had awoken a few moments ago, tearing up when she saw Lyra and muttering her sincerest apologies. Typical Tara, apologising over the silliest things...

"I failed." Tara whispered, apparently struggling to raise her voice. "I couldn't beat her. That ghost woman... She..."

"Shh..." Lyra cooed, placing a finger over Tara's lips. "It doesn't matter. Right now, they're incapacitated. They pose no threat."

Tara looked at Lyra tearfully for a few moments. When Lyra lifted her finger, she said, "I'm supposed to keep our enemies out, but I was completely useless. Anya stopped them, didn't she?"

Lyra simply nodded. She knew how much Tara loved Anya, but also knew of her jealousy of the other Youkai. After all, Anya was another 'orphan' she had brought to the mansion. She hadn't intended on making Anya a 'gate keeper', and although Tara tried not to show it, she didn't like not being the sole protector of the manor. It made her feel insignificant, expendable.

And now that she knew Anya achieved what she couldn't, Lyra expected the Barrier Youkai simply wallow in despair at her weakness.

"I want you to stay here and rest." Lyra rose to her feet. "I have to make sure Anya is able to maintain her illusions."

"...Lyra, why are we stopping them?" Tara asked, and Lyra froze. "We... we want the same thing, right? We all want to stop Rena."

"... It is impossible." Lyra replied, her voice flat. "No matter what we do, it will only end in Christina's death."

Tara was silent. Lyra was right, as always. Even if everyone teamed up and defeated Rena, it would mean possibly killing Christina in the process. And if that happened, what was the point of anything? She was far too important to everyone in this manor. Even to Lyra, who had loved her predecessors dearly, seemed to hold special value for the young mistress.

"...Just rest, okay?" Lyra repeated as she left the room. Tara hated the lack of spring in her step, and the absence of that radiant smile that had attracted Tara to the maid all those years ago... This wasn't Lyra, it was someone who had given up on finding a happy ending.

* * *

"Can't sleep... Turtle'll wake up... Can't sleep... Turtle might bite me..." Anya was muttering to herself, her head bobbing up and down.

"Just a little longer, Anya! You're doing very well!" The fairy urged. "Only... Uh, six more hours?"

Anya grumbled in annoyance. She never had to prolong an illusion this long before. It was incredibly draining on her energy to try and keep three people hypnotised - two of them being pretty strong and another being an evil turtle just made things worse.

The fairy looked back at the three slumbering intruders. Each of their faces reflected what they were going through right now. The blonde witch seemed to be experiencing sorrow, the soul seemed confused more than anything... and the turtle was in despair.

The door opened and Lyra stepped through, by passing her own barrier spell. She noticed Anya's struggle to stay awake.

"Sorry this has went on so long, Anya. You've done great." Lyra praised the young Youkai. Anya smiled slightly, always glad to receive Lyra's praise.

Lyra placed her hands atop Anya's, which were clasped over the leather bound book in her lap. Almost immediately, Anya's body began to feel fresher and rejuvenated. Lyra was sharing her own energy with Anya.

"I think that's enough, Lyra." Anya said, reluctantly pulling her hands away. "That'll last me the rest of the night."

"...Very well, but make sure to call for me at the slightest hint of trouble." Lyra told her, glancing at the intruders. Right now, each of them looked completely harmless, unable to do a thing about the illusions.

"... Anya. Could you do me a favour?" Lyra asked. Anya looked at her, listening.

"I think they've went through enough grief. Let's at least make their last dream a happy one."

Anya was surprised at the request, but also somewhat glad. If Lyra was willing to let them experience some form of happiness before everyone died, she would gladly comply... even for the mean turtle.

Anya flipped through the pages of her book, looking for one of her happier stories. It occurred to her that too many of her stories centred around loneliness or suffering. That would need to be fixed at some point...

"Ah, here we go." Anya muttered, finding a short story entitled 'Us'.

_"Bonds are forged through trials. They connect our hearts forever. Bonds are forged through trust. They connect our souls forever. Bonds are forged through effort, the connect our very beings. The bonds that bind us will transcend time, space, life and death, and solace will always be found with each other..."_

As Anya continued to recite her story, an almost undetectable change in expression occurred amongst their sleeping captives, indicating that whatever dream plagued them had shifted into something a bit more pleasant.

Lyra moved to the window, gazing at the garden. With Tara's barrier down, the seemingly endless garden was now bordered with mountains on all sides. Not that the garden could be considered small, but it was a notable change.

Lyra watched the few fairies that littered the garden, their normally playful and energetic selves now dampened by the events currently going on. They were aware that, in a few short hours, their lives would be gone. It was depressing, seeing these fairies.

However, something attracted Lyra's attention. Surprised, she peered a small distance down the garden, around the area where Tara had fallen to the ground. She could see a figure tending to the ruined flower bed. Who was she? Certainly not a fairy.

Not wanting to worry Anya or the fairy to worry, Lyra casually made her way out of the room. "Stay strong, Anya. I'll be back soon, okay?" She smiled at the small Youkai, who returned a small one of her own. In her visible eye, Lyra could see a fear for the immediate future, and found herself detesting the situation even more. It wasn't right, to kill everyone! Anya, Tara, Christina... They had barely lived their lives, and Rena intended to snuff them out, along with the rest of Gensokyo... Why was she so damn powerless?

Instead of descending into the basement and pleading with Rena to end her mad revenge scheme, she instead made her way outside the manor, ready to confront the intruder in their garden. It was so stupid, targeting this person instead of the monster that possessed her Mistress!

In no time had all, Lyra had reached the green haired woman who tenderly touched the ruined flowers. "You are trespassing." Lyra said bluntly, her usual friendly and cheerful manner gone. Perhaps Rena had already stolen that, too.

The woman didn't respond immediately, instead focusing on the flowers, which Lyra realised seemed to be blooming back to life. They had been bent, crushed and uprooted when Tara was retrieved, and this woman had simply... fixed them.

When the last flower had regained its life, the woman rose to her feet, a warm smile on her face as she gazed at the flowers. When the woman faced Lyra, her smile became a frown.

"Can I ask who hurt these innocent plants?" The woman asked. Lyra studied the woman carefully. Judging from the green hair that seemed a shade darker than one of the intruder's, she was a Youkai. She wore a pink shirt with a red checkered skirt and waistcoat, and held a light pink umbrella in one hand. She seemed almost noblewoman-like.

"Can I ask why you're interested?" Lyra countered, ready to defend herself. She had a feeling this woman might turn aggressive.

"These poor flowers were brutalized, and I can't stand such a heinous crime." The woman answered, a small grin now on her face. "I wanted to teach the offender a lesson, maybe do what they did to these innocent babies."

_S...She's insane!_ Lyra thought, taking a cautious step back. "The one who 'hurt' the flowers did so accidentally, when she was knocked unconscious." Lyra spoke coldly, warning the woman with her tone that she would not allow her to harm the 'offender'. Tara was in a bad enough condition already.

"Then she should have made a better effort to avoid them." The insane woman stated, pointing her umbrella at Lyra. "Now, bring her to me, or would you rather I take their vengeance out on you?"

"Just who the hell are you?" Lyra asked.

With an even wider grin, the woman shouldered her umbrella, placing her free hand over her chest. "Glad you asked! I'm known as the defender of plant life! The beautiful paragon of justice!"

With a quick twirl, the woman threw her parasol into the air, her hand outstretched. Catching the falling parasol perfectly in her hand, she swung it to her side, as if posing dramatically with a sword.

"I am the greatest Youkai who ever lived! Call me Yuuka Kazami!"

Lyra watched her small display with disbelieving eyes. This Youkai woman _was_ insane! Judging by her self-introduction, she was some sort of plant lover, or possibly her power stemmed from them. Not that it mattered. She wasn't about to let this 'Yuuka' attack her precious Tara, or anyone in the manor.

_That isn't named Rena._ The thought crossed her mind, and for a second, she considered convincing this woman to turn any anger she had towards the demon that started this whole mess. But it was a foolish thought. There was no way this insane woman could hope to match Rena, and even if she did, she would doubtlessly hurt Christina in the process. Or worse.

"... Not impressed?" Yuka asked, somewhat disappointed by Lyra's lack of reaction. "Well... Maybe we should skip to the epic showdown?"

"Whatever." Lyra sighed, readying for battle.

* * *

When Marisa came to, her head hurt. She had a sneaking suspicion she had recently suffered a mysterious headache, but of course she couldn't quite remember.

Furthermore, Marisa was quite sure she'd fallen into depression. So why was her heart now filled with such warmth and joy? She looked at her surroundings, realising she was at the Hakurei Shrine.

"Yo, Marisa!" A voice called from behind, and Maria turned to see the purple haired Shrine Maiden, sitting on the patio of her Shrine, wearing a large grin.

"Rei...mu?" Marisa wondered why she was so surprised to see her. Reimu was always at the shrine, so it made sense for Reimu to be here right now. Perhaps the confusion stemmed from Marisa herself not knowing how exactly she got to the shrine.

Reimu got to her feet and strolled to Marisa's side, taking one of her hands in both of her own. Marisa looked in confusion as Reimu happily led her to the porch, plonking them both down..

"Mima should be messing around with Yuuka right about now." Reimu said brightly, and it took Marisa a little while to remember who she was talking about. The weird flower Youkai who may or may not be insane? Why would Mima be messing around with her? Were they having some sort of battle?

Marisa's head felt incredibly muddled and clouded. Another familiar sensation. It was as if something were blocking her memories...

_After the adventures we had, our friendship bloomed..._

"Friendship?" Marisa murmured, and Reimu glanced at her, eyebrow raised.

_It bloomed and prospered, becoming something much more..._

"... Wait, I think I see where this is going already." Marisa stated to her head, eyes growing wide.

"You do? Wow, I thought I was being innocent." Reimu remarked with a laugh. Casually, as if it were something she did many times, Reimu sidled a little closer, and hand placed over Marisa's.

Her heart was beginning to beat faster as she stared at Reimu, who leaned into Marisa's shoulder, a small smile on her face.

_The trials they endured brought forth their dormant feelings, and a new happiness was created._

What were these thoughts in her head? They didn't sound like her own, or even like a memory. It was as if something was chanting phrases in her mind, as if to fill in the large gaps in Marisa's memory.

"We should have plenty of time together, before Mima returns." Reimu sighed happily, glancing up at Marisa's shocked face. "Anything you'd like to do?"

"Yeah, find some answers!" Marisa suddenly rose from her feet, pushing Reimu away. She looked surprised, and watched as the young witch glared suspiciously at Reimu.

"What's with the way you're acting? You never acted like a lov- er, a... um..."

Reimu giggled at Marisa's sudden embarrassment. "You're so cute when you lose that self-sure aura of yours."

Marisa could only blush furiously as Reimu got to her feet and stood face to face with her. They were roughly the same height and body proportion, although anyone who really payed attention to this sort of thing would say Reimu only barely won over Marisa in the 'talent' department. Not that they had much to begin with.

_With that happiness came passion and bliss. A feeling of true harmony._

"Someone's screwing with me here!" Marisa yelled. Reimu didn't flinch, but instead laughed.

"Yeah, you're right! Although you screw me just as much!" Reimu sniggered, and Marisa's mind simply went blank. It was as if her feelings had clashed in an epic duel to win over Marisa. The part of Marisa that liked Reimu as a friend, versus the part of Marisa that saw her as something more of a friend. When had she ever felt that?

"Marisa~! You awake?" Reimu inquired, noticing how despondent the witch had become. With a start, Marisa snapped back to reality, staring at Reimu, scrutinising her.

_I... I like her, don't I?_ Marisa wondered. She could recall feeling conflicted about how she saw the Shrine Maiden. Even to herself, she struggled to admit anything, but now, it felt so clear: She did like Reimu Hakurei after all... But how much?

"This much." Reimu whispered, as if she knew exactly what Marisa was thinking. The Miko leaned forward gently, slowly drawing her face closer to Marisa's. The witch could only watched, entranced, as Reimu's lips drew closer.

_Why... Why don't I want to back away?_ Her befuddled mind asked of herself.

* * *

Mima instantly knew that something wasn't right.

Her mind was a complete, foggy mess. Try as she might, nothing of her recent activity was recalled. She knew that something made her feel... lonely, earlier, but now she had no idea how she had arrived...

Mima realised that she was now in the Forest of Magic, in front of a house. It took her a split second to recognise it as that little hovel Marisa owned. However, hovel or not, she was so intensely happy to see it... as if she couldn't find it before.

The door opened and the blonde little magician stood in the doorway, wearing, oddly enough, a pale blue yukata that somewhat resembled Mima's usual outfit.

"Heya Mimama!" Marisa called, and Mima blinked in confusion. Maybe it was her messed up head, but Mima was quite sure Marisa had called her something different.

"C-could you repeat that?" Mima asked, her authorative tone absent.

Marisa giggled lightly. "How much can you love that nickname, Mimama?"

"Mi...mama?" Mima repeated. As in, mama? Mother?

_Though not by blood, their bond rivaled the closest of families. Their fierce love had shone in both hearts..._

That thought... it clearly wasn't hers. Something was very wrong here. She knew Marisa didn't act like that. Her apprentice always referred to her as 'Miss Mima', no pet names or any of that silly nonsense. It was sheer idiocy.

So why did she find that she, in fact, liked it?

_Becoming a mother to the young woman, she provided the love that she needed. And her daughter, in turn, loved her back._

"Mimama, I made some soup! Come join me!" Marisa called happily, disappearing back into her home.

Curious, Mima glided through the house's threshold, taken aback by how... empty it looked.

Well, empty was the wrong word. Her front room had a two seated couch, a small table and a fireplace, and the kitchen clearly had all the necessary utensils. A quick peek showed that her bedroom was adequate, too.

It only looked empty because there weren't any stolen trinkets or mountains of books.

Marisa hummed away in the kitchen, stirring a pot of soup. Seating herself on (Or rather, above) the small sofa, Mima tried to gather her thoughts.

Memories slowly returned to her. Memories of her and Marisa... laughing and playing together. Shockingly, Marisa was incredibly young in these memories, still an infant. How could this be? She didn't meet Marisa until she was twelve!

"Or did I?" Mima murmured, completely confused. A small part of her mind nagged at her, pointing out that these memories didn't seem right. A larger part of her mind convinced her that these were real.

_Stirring a love previously unknown, the ice-cold woman changed into a loving mother, the child now the most precious thing in existence. Nothing would squash this newfound love._

"No... Something isn't right." Mima was growling, hands holding her head.

"Mimama? Something wrong?"

Mima looked up, seeing Marisa had arrived holding a tray. A bowl of soup and several plates of bread and cooked meat balanced upon it, and a look of concern on Marisa's face.

Seeing her, Mima couldn't help but admit to herself how much she loved this girl. Not the way a lover would, but how one would love their child. Even if she doubted the thoughts that invaded her head, she was sure her feelings were genuine.

In a rare moment of genuine affection, Mima smiled warmly at her appre-daughter.

"Everything's just fine. Sit."

With a smile on her face, Marisa took her seat next to Mima, setting the soup on the table. She gave Mima a small hug, despite Mima's lack of a physical body.

"Oh, by the way, there's a fairy causing some trouble further up the forest." Marisa said conversationally, dipping a slice of bread into the soup. "Tried to freeze someone skinny dipping in the water."

"... I see." Mima grinned in amusement. Something told her that this wasn't right. It wasn't real, but she found that she didn't care. Mima wanted to observe Marisa a little more, wanted to openly admit how much she cared for the young witch.

The voice that filled her head with thoughts was fading. Not that Mima noticed.

"It's kinda worrying. I mean, what if I wanna have a swim? I don't want some fairy freezing my ass for no reason!" Marisa shuddered at the thought.

"I can make sure that fairy leaves you alone." Mima promised, taking a piece of meat and chewing it.

"Heh. You're so reliable, Mimama!"

_But you should be more than capable of handling a fairy._ Mima realised. Hadn't she taught Marisa everything she knew about magic?

"... Oh, Reimu was around earlier. Wanted to invite me to a donation drive she's holding." Marisa mentioned, taking some more soup-soaked bread. "Wanna help us out? We're trying to raise a thousand yen!"

That's all? "That would be nice..." Mima muttered, her gaze on the floor.

Marisa noticed that Mima was acting odd again. The concern back on her face, Marisa reached for Mima's hand.

"Mimama, what's wrong?"

Mima looked at her surrogate daughter, her eyes filled with love - and regret. Her mind had subconsciously been dispelling the mist that seemed to cloud her head, and she found herself remembering a different Marisa. One who stole, one who lied... But one she loved all the same.

Mima rose into a standing position, and Marisa with her. "Mimama...?"

Mima embraced the young girl, her body passing through Marisa's skin only slightly.

"Any other time, I'd be too proud... too afraid, to do this." Mima whispered. "I'm sorry, Marisa. You aren't the daughter I know."

She saw the shock in Marisa's face, but it changed to a look of understanding.

"I see. You saw through it? You truly are the best Mimam... Miss Mima."

"'Mimama' will do." The Soul Youkai told the illusory daughter of hers. "I guess... should I say goodbye?"

Marisa smiled at her 'mother'. "Nah. It's not like I only exist in your mind, after all. See you in a minute, 'kay?"

Mima simply nodded, and detached herself from Marisa. She closed her eyes, exuding her aura. She felt her energy clash with whatever had a hold of her mind, and challenged it. Now that she was aware of the tricks, her power easily dominated whatever messed with her head. A squeal of pure terror was heard as she woke up.

* * *

"This is great..." Genji sighed, lazing around in a pond behind the Hakurei Shrine. "If I ever retire from Miko-shipping, I'm spending the rest of my days here."

* * *

Fear was emanating from the young Youkai when the soul had began to arouse from her slumber. Desperately, she tried to pour her power into the book, trying to reinforce her illusions, but it was hopeless. The soul had already awoken. All Anya and the fairy could do was watch in terror.

With a large yawn, Mima took in the surroundings. She was in some room of the mansion, and she could faintly detect the energies of a barrier around it, keeping them inside.

Without so much as a glance at the frightened girl who sat hunched on the armchair nearby, Mima turned to her apprentice, whose face was deeply flushed.

"Marisa! Hey, Marisa! Wake your lazy little ass up, please!" Mima yelled into her ear. When this didn't do anything, Mima tapped her forehead, releasing a tiny jolt of magic energy.

That woke the magician up. With a startled grunt, she opened her eyes blearily, looking confused.

"R-Reimu? Where'd you go? I thought we were kis-" Marisa realized that Mima was floating by her side, arms crossed and wearing a sly grin.

"Hm? You and Reimu were what?" Mima asked teasingly, and Marisa blushed harder.

"N-n-nothing at all! I swear!" She stammered nervously, the memories of her last dream still fresh in her mind.

Mima's eyes glinted with amusement, noting that whatever that dream was, she would have payed so much just to see exactly what was going on. The soul fondly recalled the Marisa she had encountered in her own dream, and decided that that wouldn't be the price.

Leaving Marisa to her blushing spell, Mima turned to the slumbering turtle, poking him with the same magic jolt. As he woke with a start, Marisa began to recall the earlier dream she had. The one where she had been alone. Scared. Angry...

Seeing the still terrified girl in the armchair, Marisa slowly got to her feet and walked to the girl, until she stood directly in front of her.

"... You made those dreams, didn't you?" Marisa asked, her voice monotonous. Dangerous.

"No! Anya never did a thing!" The fairy immediately protested. "She was just watching over you!"

"That explains how we met in your garden and fell asleep as soon as she read from that book." Marisa replied, and the fairy cringed. "That dream... I didn't like it too much."

Anya could only tremble as she imagined what horrible wrath the intruders had in store for her. Oh, why did they wake up now? Why couldn't it have been five minutes earlier, when Lyra was here? Then she wouldn't have to handle a severe pummeling.

Mima noticed Marisa approach the girl, and watched silently. She had recalled an earlier dream, in which Marisa and Reimu apparently didn't exist. Such a dream disturbed her, but she felt no ill will for the scared little Youkai, for some reason. Maybe because the illusionist looked so pitiful? Quite different from when she had leaped at them from the sky...

Marisa wasn't sure what to do with the one-eyed girl. Should she hit her? Did she really deserve it? After all, they were only dreams. Illusions. And it wasn't like Marisa hated that second dream... But they had felt so real, and what if she had never woken up? Well, she would have managed to kiss Re-

_No! That didn't happen!_ Marisa scolded herself, feeling colour rise in her cheeks again. Seeing the girl's confused stare, she must have been wondering if Marisa was actually going to do anything or not.

"Grr... Take that!" Marisa, to cover her embarrassment, aimed a weak little jab at the Youkai, wrapping her forehead with her knuckles. Marisa didn't expect it to actually do any damage, but the sudden bawling that erupted from the girl surprised her.

"W-what the hell?" Marisa gasped, watching as the fairy immediately began to coddle and comfort the girl, shooting Marisa a reproachful look that actually made her feel somewhat guilty.

"Heh. I've never seen such a fragile creature..." Mima muttered.

"Ugh, what's that noise?" Genji grumbled, taking forever and a day to fully awake. He seemed to regain his senses quickly enough. "Oh no, she's still crying?"

"Still?" Mima asked.

"I... sort of bit her when she came too close." Genji mumbled in shame.

"You sick monster." Mima replied with an amused smile.

It took several moments for the girl to calm down. Sniffling, her visible eye darted between the three intruders, showing a vast amount of fear for both Genji and Marisa.

The fairy had found a towel lying on a rack in the attached bathroom, and slipped the girl's eye patch off to properly dry her tears. A momentary glimpse showed that the girl actually had two eyes. the hidden one was simply green.

"You really should be ashamed." The fairy said reproachfully to Marisa. "What is with you lot and hurting innocent little Anya like that?"

"S...She's an enemy." Marisa stated dumbly. "And she did make those... dreams."

"They weren't all bad." Mima shrugged. "Sure, the first dream kinda sucked, but the second was nice."

_Yep..._ Marisa thought, recalling that scene with Reimu again, and hurriedly turned to look out the window to hide her embarrassment once again.

"Anyway, no more time to waste." Mima clapped her hands. "It's been fun and all, but we'll be going now. Got some useless miko to rescue and a hairy ass to kick. Genji, Marisa!"

Marisa didn't move, instead she peered into the garden, watching the beginnings of a brawl.

"Marisa?" Mima floated to her side, staring out the window. "What's going-...Ah."

"What?" Genji asked, mildly worried.

Mima grinned as she recognized the flower Youkai, battling with an unfamiliar figure. "It would appear someone else has an interest in this place."

"Eh?" Anya nervously approached the window, and Marisa stepped aside to let her look. The girl kept her green eye closed, as if too afraid or timid to show her mis-matched eyes. "L-Lyra? Who's she fighting?"

"Death incarnate." Mima growled into the girl's ear.

* * *

**Five hours earlier**

_I definitely overreacted..._ Reimu thought to herself as she watched Christina sleep on.

Reimu had no idea how long they'd been cooped up, but enough time had passed for Reimu to be convinced that Christina wasn't going to be waking up as someone else any time soon. Had she been wrong in her suspicions all along?

Sitting with her back to the table that Christina slept on, Reimu had the knife in her hands, simply studying it. She could feel traces of magic power imbued in the blade, and the faint trace of lives taken by it. It was sickening to think how many may have died at by this blade.

But why was it here? Christina or Lyra didn't seem the sort to perform ritualistic murders, and she didn't know enough about Rena to judge (Although, it certainly looked like that was the plan...).

As Christina's light snoring continued, Reimu sighed and leaned back, wondering just what the hell was going on. Clearly, Reimu was locked down here with Christina for a reason. Was Christina really Rena or not? She really would love an answer around now.

Reimu sensed movement behind her, and cautiously moved from the table, her eyes on Christina, who had just opened her eyes.

"Christina? You feeling okay?" Reimu asked.

Christina shifted to a seating position, looking at Reimu, and the Shrine Maiden felt a slight change in the air around her. Gripping the knife tightly at her side, she asked again, "Christina? Are you all right?"

"Never better, Reimu Hakurei." That weird dual voice. The difference in the way she addressed Reimu... So it was true, after all.

Christina, or rather Rena, hopped off the pedestal, smiling at Reimu. The smile didn't reach her eyes. "Well now, I suppose a few explanations are in order?"


	8. Chapter 8 Motivations

**Author's Note:**

**Man, switching from past to present is a bit more annoying than I anticipated...**

**Yuuka's also a bit of a challenge to write. From what I hear, she's supposed to be a bit insane, but I'm not sure if I've displayed that properly. Plus, playing Touhou Mother makes me see Yuuka as a bit more silly, spouting game-related nonsense and being the slowest thing ever... Well, I hope I at least make her somewhat entertaining.**

* * *

So it was true, after all. Christina was, in fact, Rena. The hair was still short and cerulean, but the weird dual voice and mannerisms proved it.

"So, did you finally decide to stop with the lies?" Reimu asked flatly. "Or am I missing a crucial detail?"

Rena smirked coldly as she contemplated the Shrine Maiden. "Oh, there's quite a lot you don't know. We've got a bit of time, wanna hear the details?"

Reimu didn't answer, instead closely watching Rena, who simply sat casually on the table. She tugged at the blouse she was wearing, a look of discomfort crossing her face.

"Mind if I take this off? It's a bit stifling in this crap." Rena asked.

"I do. Very much so." Reimu replied. Rena tutted in annoyance. A second later, her hair changed to that bright orange colour and practically enveloped her whole body as it grew. Rena gave her head a small shake and went back to watching Reimu.

The shrine maiden's heart was beating fast, the knife clutched tightly in her hand. What was going to happen now? Was Rena going to try and kill her at this very moment? Or was she just going to sit there all day? Come to think of it, she mentioned having plenty of time... So, she wasn't to die for another few hours, then?

"I guess I should ask; Who the hell are you?" Reimu said, glaring at the hair-youkai. "Which side of you is real?"

Rena smirked as she contemplated the answer. "If you mean, which of us is the real persona... Well, both of us."

Seeing that Reimu didn't look convinced, Rena simply snorted. "Fine, if you want it bluntly... I'm Christina's loving twin sister."

Reimu was momentarily shocked at this, then smiled coldly at Rena. "Really now? I always thought twins had their own bodies, not a shared one."

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't make light of it." Rena said, and the icy chill of her tone surprised even Reimu, and she blinked at the youkai in front of her. Rena didn't look too amused anymore, but angry, and perhaps a little hurt.

"...Christina likes you a hell of a lot." Rena sighed after a moment's silence. "So, I'll do you a favour and at least explain why you all have to die."

Reimu wanted to retort with something along the lines of 'lovely, thank you for your kindness, now I get to die knowing why you're crazy', but the words didn't form. Seeing Rena's dark expression as she seemed to recall bitter memories intrigued Reimu. It was clear that she had suffered in her past, and possibly Christina too. Was Reimu about to learn the reason for all this?

"... Our lives were destroyed, over two hundred and thirty years ago." Rena spoke, her voice controlled and neutral, although her eyes betrayed her anger. "We were tricked by a human who pretended to be a Saviour to us, a saint. He showed us what humans really thought of us youkai."

Reimu listened intently, although she kept herself wary of any surprise attacks. After all, fabricating a sob story to lower your target's guard wasn't exactly out of the question.

"And after all that time, it would seem the hatred hasn't died down. Not even a little." Rena continued.

* * *

Two young Youkai were running, sounds of laughter could be heard from the one in the lead. With bright orange hair that could reach the ground, this Youkai seemed to be enjoying tormenting her companion.

"Rena~! Fix it, please!" The other girl wailed, her head completely bald.

"But it looks so good!" Rena laughed as she easily outran the other. The bald girl eventually stopped running, staring at Rena with tear filled eyes.

Noticing the chase had stopped, Rena glanced back at her sister, who looked like she was about to cry.

"Hey, hey! Don't start with those tears! It was just a joke!" Rena hurriedly explained, jogging back to her sister.

"It's not funny." Christina sniffed. "I could hear the fairies laughing for miles."

Rena glanced at the small forest they had just emerged from, eyes narrowed. "That so? Want me to destroy them?"

"No! I want my hair!" Christina wailed.

Placing her hands on Christina's shiny head, Rena began to manipulate the hair follicles, allowing a new head of black hair to grow. She let it reach Christina's lower back, her preferred hair style for the moment.

Smiling slightly now that she had a head of hair, Christina worked her own magic, and the hair changed from black to a deep, navy blue.

"Thank you." Christina said gratefully. Rena simply averted her eyes.

"Just learn to take a joke next time..." She muttered.

Rena and Christina were twins, and despite Rena's 'jokes' she occasionally played on Christina, she was so protective of her sister that she would decimate anything that insulted her only slightly. Luckily, Christina was far more pacifistic and kept her temper leashed.

With her mood brightened up considerably, Christina looked at the nearby village in the distance. They occasionally visited to try and find food, but preferred to avoid the place. They were aware of the stares and distrust, although they couldn't understand why. After all, what had they done exactly? One guy sees a girl grow her hair an inch and suddenly the two of them are horrendous creature hell bent on death and destruction!

"Guess we gotta eat sometime." Rena muttered, seeing where Christina was gazing. Taking hold of her sister's hand, Rena led the two over to the village.

"How much have we got?" Rena asked, and Christina searched the pockets of her dusty white blouse with her free hand.

"...fifty two yen." She replied.

Oh good, we'll have just enough for the mouldy leftovers... Rena thought in irritation. Even if their bodies could easily handle any poisons from leftovers, it still tasted horrible and could have rather... messy side effects. Still, better to eat and keep their strength up.

They entered the village, making sure to avoid eye contact with the villagers, just to try and avoid seeing the hostility present in their faces.

The twins made their way to a little baker's shop, who watched them approach with a blank expression. The twins didn't doubt that the baker hated them as much as everyone else, but hey, they were at least paying customers, even if they had very, very little.

Approaching the open building, Rena and Christina approached the counter separating them. Christina looked rather nervous, while Rena simply looked casual. "What can we get for fifty two yen?"

The baker turned and headed for the storeroom behind him, and returned after a moment with a brown paper bag filled the remnants of last week's unsold bread.

Christina held the hand with the money out for the shopkeeper to take as Rena took the bag of less than desirable food. When they paid, the two left.

"Better quality than usual." Rena grunted, peering inside. "I don't see crap mixed in with this."

Christina reached into the bag, producing a piece of rock hard bread. "They can still double as lethal weapons, though." She winced, and attempted to take a bite.

As they rounded a corner, Rena was taking a piece of rock-bread for herself when she walked into someone. Surprised, Rena tried to step back, only to trip over her own hair and fall painfully to her backside, the bag of bread falling from her hands and spilling onto the ground.

"Oof! Sorry, little lady..." The person apologised, seeing the food on the ground. Christina helped her sister back to her feet, and Rena glared at the man who'd ruined their already-ruined food.

"'Sorry?' I gotta skip on my lunch for the week!" She snapped, folding her arms over her chest. "Regardless of what you think of us, I'm not about to stoop to eating from the ground!"

"Woah, calm down please!" The man threw his arms up, noticing the people that stopped and stared. Perhaps they thought Rena was going to go on a rampage or something.

The man looked at the two girls. It was kind of obvious these two were Youkai, but that didn't bother him. After all, he'd met Youkai before, and they were perfectly likable beings. He had no idea what this village's problem was, but he wasn't about to subscribe to their thinking.

"Sorry I messed up your... lunch." the man repeated, glancing at the crappy-looking bread they planned to feast on. How could they eat that crap?

"Hey, how about I cook you two something? You know, as an apology?"

Rena immediately glared in suspicion at the man, wondering where this kindness came from. After all, no one else in this village offered a helping hand, why should he?

"That's very generous of you!" Christina said, trying to contain her excitement. "We'd love some food, right Rena?"

Rena wanted to protest, to say that this man couldn't trusted. They had no reason to believe he would feed them anything other than poison! But seeing Christina's excited expression, and knowing that her strength wasn't all that great from their lack of any decent nutrition, Rena had to relent. She couldn't deny Chrsitina a chance to actually eat, for once. And besides, if she found out this guy really was as bad as the rest... she would enjoy gutting him.

So, with Rena's reluctant agreement, the man led them through the village, ignoring the whisper's that erupted around them from the exchange.

"Name's Kenta, by the way." The man introduced himself. "May I ask your names?"

"Christina!" The young Youkai happily said.

"Rena." Christina's long-haired sister grunted, glowering at the man from behind.

Kenta was in his late thirties, at least, from the look of him. His short hair was still pretty dark, and his clothing suggested he had a little money to go around.

It wasn't long before they reached Kenta's home, which was somewhat spacious looking. When the three entered, Kenta immediately headed for the kitchen, leaving the twins to look around his house.

The front room contained several small armchairs, a table in the centre of the room, and a wall lined with books. Nothing fancy there, from the looks of things. They could see into the kitchen, where Kenta was gathering ingredients for whatever he was making, and another, closed off door which they suspected would lead to his bedroom.

"Make yourselves at home!" Kenta called from the kitchen. "This'll take at least half an hour to make, okay?"

"Fine by me!" Christina called back, browsing the books on display. Not that she knew anything about them - Christina never got a chance to learn how to read or write. Neither had Rena, but she wasn't too interested in that stuff.

_I still say this too good..._ Rena thought, watching Kenta warily.

After half an hour of nothing particularly noteworthy happening, Kenta brought the two girls their meal. Christina eyed the food hungrily as Kenta brought it to them, while Rena tried to keep a cautious demeanor to hide her own hunger. It certainly smelled good...

"Hope that's adequate." Kenta smiled nervously, and Christina immediately began shoveling the food down her throat. Rena gave her own plate a suspicious glance before succumbing to her stomach's plea's. Watching the two eat, Kenta was glad. Youkai or not, these girls didn't deserve crappy leftovers.

When the girls finished, Kenta took the plates back to the kitchen to wash them up. He noticed Christina and Rena approaching slowly, and faced them. "Is something the matter?" He asked asked them.

"We..." Christina began shyly. Rolling her eyes, Rena finished the sentence.

"We want to at least clean up, since you were so k-kind." She mumbled the last word, averting her gaze.

"Oh, that's no trouble, really." Kenta told them, but they began to insist, until Kenta sighed and let them handle the washing up.

Rena tackled the cleaning, and Christina dried the plates. It was obvious they weren't exactly used to cleaning dinnerware, and the first pate that Christina took from Rena slipped from her grasp, smashing to the ground.

Christina stared, horrified, at the shards littering the floor. Their feet were unharmed, but the floor was littered with tiny shards.

"I-I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean it, I swear!" Christina whimpered, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Rena immediately held her sister close, watching Kenta's reaction carefully.

"There's no need to worry." Kenta assured them. "It's just one plate. Accident's happen. I'll mop the mess up, don't move or you'll cut your feet."

Kenta moved to a small cupboard at the back of his kitchen, produced a broom and began moving the shards to a far corner of the kitchen. When the floor was clear, Rena led a sniffling Christina back to the living room, while Kenta disposed of the shards.

He stepped into the living room, seeing that Christina had calmed somewhat. "There, no harm done."

"Sorry, we overstayed our welcome." Rena stated bluntly. "We should go."

"Oh... Well, if you're sure." Kenta said, surprised. "... But, you know, you can always come here if you're hungry."

_Yeah, no, not coming back. _Rena thought to herself as she began to lead Christina away, the blue-haired Youkai glanced back at Kenta, who gave her a small smile. Returning his with her own, the twins left Kenta's home and made their way out the village, ignoring the usual stares and whispers.

"He's kinda nice." Christina stated.

"Yeah, whatever." Rena shrugged. She glanced at her sister, seeing a look of admiration in Christina's eyes.

_Aw crap, she wants to visit him again, doesn't she..._ Rena wondered. _Then again... I can see why, kinda. He isn't an asshole, like them. Still..._

_

* * *

_

Rena stopped her recollection for a moment, glaring at a spot in the floor. Reimu thought over what she'd heard so far. That Rena and Christina once lived near a Youkai-hating village, and someone from said village showed kindness... From the sounds of things, Rena was building up to some sort of betrayal.

To Reimu's surprise, Rena gave an annoyed grunt and suddenly began pulling the blouse off.

"Hey! What're you doing now?" Reimu demanded, turning her head.

"What? Didn't I say these clothes annoy the hell out of me?" Rena snapped. "Look, I have a crapload of hair and a vest on, don't think I'm performing a strip tease for you."

"No wonder Christina's so creepy..." Reimu muttered, taking a cautious glance in Rena's direction. Satisfied that Rena wasn't showing too much of herself, Reimu faced the weird Youkai.

Clearing her throat, Rena sat back on the table, her hair moving to properly shield her body and avoiding being sat on. "Anyway, let's just continue..."

* * *

It was nearly two weeks later, and the twins found themselves in need of food again. Normally, Rena would beg anyone passing by the forest for any spare money. She absolutely hated having to beg and plead for a single goddamn yen, but it was vastly more preferable to having Christina go through this humiliation. And all she had to show for her efforts was thirty eight measly yen.

"We could go visit Kenta..." Christina suggested sheepishly as they headed for the village once again. "I mean... he did say we could go back..."

"Hm..." Rena had to agree, that Kenta guy definitely had the better food, but Rena was still unsure about relying on him for anything. She just couldn't think why...

A simultaneous rumbling of their stomachs interjected, and the twins glanced at each other, before giggling slightly.

"I guess Kenta will do for now." Rena relented. "We can just save up for a more luxurious meal, after all!"

Christina looked excited at the prospect of getting a decent meal again - or maybe it was because she wanted to see Kenta again. After all, the Youkai child loved making friends, even if she hadn't made one in a long, long time.

Rena, as usual, led the way, remembering the house's location quite easily. Once they were at his front door, they hesitated.

"...Well? Knock already." Rena muttered, pushing Christina ahead of her.

"Eh? Why me?" Christina asked, facing her sister. "You were in front, so why don't you?"

"You wanted to come here!"

"You made the decision!"

As the twins bickered over the trivial matter of knocking on the door, it opened. Kenta had heard squabbling just outside, and was curious of the source. He smiled when he recognised the the girls.

"Ah, you came back after all! Come on in!" He offered, stepping aside to let them pass.

"Sorry to intrude!" Christina immediately said, before skipping inside. Rena simply grunted, averting her gaze as she entered.

Kenta ignored the passers by that glared in his general direction as he closed the door.

"So." Kenta said as he looked at the twins, who had seated themselves in the living room. "I guess you're both hungry?"

Rena snorted. "I see you're pretty smart for a human."

Kenta simply chuckled nervously, unsure if Rena was just kidding around or simply insulting him.

"Rena!" Christina reprimanded her sister, arms folded as if trying to come across as a stern parent. "Don't be rude to such a kind man!"

Again, Kenta simply laughed. "Don't worry about it. Anyway, would you guys like some beef?"

Christina enthusiastically shouted a 'yes', while Rena simply shrugged, although her eyes showed that she would, in fact, absolutely love eating meat.

A short while later, the three were eating in the living room, silent except for the occasional audible chewing. Not wanting an awkward silence to befall them, Kenta decided to try some conversation.

"So, where do you two live?" He asked.

"Forest." Rena grunted in between mouthfull's. Christina waited to finish her own piece of meat before answering.

"...Yeah, the forest." She muttered, realising that they had no specific area to live. Just 'the forest'.

"Isn't that rough?" Kenta asked in surprise. Rena simply shrugged, and Christina shook her head.

Kenta studied the two girls, wondering just how tough their lives were. After all, their clothing seemed rather threadbare, they had no roof over there heads, and they semi-occasionally bought crappy leftovers that could kill a guy. How did they stand that?

"You know... I have a spare room." Kenta began, and Rena immediately flashed him a suspicious glare. Kenta pretended not to notice, although he was somewhat unnerved by her glaring.

"I only have one spare bed, but it should fit both of you. That is, if you want to stay here."

The twins looked at him for a long time, disbelieving. This man, who had fed them twice now, was offering them a place to stay as well?

"...That's... that's so kind..." Christina whispered, gazing at Kenta with teary eyes. "You would put up with us two? Really?"

Kenta nodded, giving her a warm smile. He looked at Rena, who had risen to her feet and had approached Kenta, that suspicious look still on her face.

"Hm..." Rena leaned closer, and Kenta leaned back to maintain a distance.

"...Problem, Rena?" Kenta asked nervously.

Rena continued to scrutinise the human before answering. "I'm curious. Why would a human man like you want to bring in two, young, pretty as all hell girls into your house for?"

Kenta blinked in surprise at what Rena said. Christina realised what her sister was getting at and immediately pulled her back, her own face glowing bright red. "Rena! That's terrible! Apologise right now!"

"...It's just a joke." Rena muttered, keeping her gaze to the floor. "Besides, we can't trust him completely, can we? What if he's just trying to lower our guard? He could be trying to kill us in our sleep!"

"I wouldn't do a thing like that!" Kenta was on his feet now, giving Rena a hurt look. His voice was sincere as he spoke. "I can see why you wouldn't trust me so quickly, but I want to help you! It's clear that you two are nowhere near as bad as everyone else makes out."

Christina looked at Kenta with admiration, while Rena tried to hide the guilt she felt by accusing Kenta of being so untrustworthy. But she was only looking out for Christina, after all. If she didn't make sure this human was kind hearted, how could she call herself a sister?

Well, Rena was at least convinced that Kenta wasn't up to no good. She could tell how sincere he was, no dark motives at all.

Rena bowed low to him, her hair forming a massive curtain around her head. "I apologise from the bottom of my heart. I would be happy if you allowed us to stay with you."

Glad that Rena seemed to trust him, Kenta crouched in front of Rena, trying to see her face. He thought he saw the hair shift own its own to hide her face. "Don't worry about it. I can see why you'd be worried. And you don't have to be so formal with me."

"Ah, good." Rena straightened herself, flicking the hair from her face, which now wore a confident grin. "In that case, you'd better give us class S treatment, human!"

"...What Rena means to say is, 'I hope you'll take care of us undeserving leeches'." Christina said with a lot more modesty.

"What? Who's an 'undeserving leech'?" Rena asked with narrowed eyes, and Christina let out a nervous giggle. A second later, Rena had pounced with amazing speed, pinning Christina to the couch and wearing a malicious smile.

"For reasons totally unrelated to 'leeches', I decided you need a haircut." Rena growled mischievously, and Christina squealed in terror (Whether genuine or playful is ambiguous), and Kenta was left wondering if he hadn't got in over his head taking these two in.

* * *

"Things seem well so far." Reimu commented when Rena once again paused her story. Rena didn't respond, instead staring at the ground once again.

"... I was so damn stupid..." Reimu strained to hear those words. Had Rena meant to say that to Reimu, or herself? What had she meant? Had Kenta really turned out to be a bad guy?

Rena turned her eyes to the stone ceiling, as if seeing something beyond. "Wow, I wasted an hour already?"

Rena's gaze now turned to Reimu, who was ready to retaliate against any suddens moves. "Calm down, you still got another four to kill. But I don't feel like finishing yet."

"...So what now?" Reimu asked suspiciously.

"Now..." Rena hopped off the table and began walking towards Reimu, who immediately began moving back, gripping the knife tightly. She refused to use it, but if Rena was going to try and take it...

Rena smirked as she drew closer, confidently strolling towards the Miko. Reimu hit the wall, right next to that passage back to the graveroom. She was too busy watching Rena to realise which way to move.

Not that it mattered. Rena simply walked by her, through that passage. Reimu was shocked, and she peered into the dark passage, Rena's bright orange hair being a dead give away in the darkness.

"H-hey! Where're you going?" Reimu called after.

"Calm down, just going on a bathroom break!" Rena called back.

_...Oh._ Reimu sighed and leaned against the stone wall, wondering if she could somehow find a way out while Rena went about her business. Not that she found a way to unlock that door in the god-knows how many hours she'd been stuck down there already. She was feeling pretty hungry too...

* * *

**Four-five hours Later.**

"Seriously, what is WRONG with you people?" The fairy snarled as Anya sunk into a foetal position, mumbling to herself. Mima gave an innocent little shrug in response.

"I'm a reforming baddie. Totally evil jokes aren't out my system yet." She said.

Marisa continued to watch the battle going on outside, a small smirk on her face. "I dunno Miss Mima, Yuuka seems hell-bent on killing wutshername."

"I don't want Lyra to die!" Anya cried out, and the fairy wished that she wasn't the only one around trying to calm the poor girl.

Mima spared another glance outside, watching the combatants movements. It was clear Yuuka wasn't trying to kill her. Yuuka may not be entirely right in the head, but it was clear in their previous encounters that she wasn't a murderer. Granted, you may be in a coma for an indefinite amount of time for even so much as badmouthing a lily, but you were still alive, right? Not that that seemed too likely. Judging by how Yuuka was fighting, she wasn't even being serious.

"Well, that's one boss we can safely skip." Mima said, and instead glided to the door, sensing the enchantments made to keep them inside. "Girl, can you unlock this?"

"Even if she could, why would she?" the fairy challenged. "You've just scared the utter hell out of her! And those two have tried to grievously harm her!"

Again, a look of shame crossed Marisa's and Genji's faces, while Mima only rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll do it."

Placing her hands on the door, Mima concentrated on undoing the seal. It was obvious that the spellcaster was quite talented, as it was difficult for Mima to unravel the spell with her own power.

"S-stop! You aren't allowed to leave!" the fairy protested weakly, knowing how futile it was to try and seriously stop these guys from escaping.

Anya, having calmed down from her fit of fear, watched Mima warily, her gaze moving to Marisa and Genji.

"You're... looking for the Shrine Maiden, correct?" She asked quietly. Marisa and Genji nodded. "Well... You should know, she's with someone who's completely unbeatable..."

Marisa snorted in amusement. "Oh yeah? Well, Rena won't be so tough when we confront her in a fair fight! Miss Mima alone could utterly destroy her very being!"

Anya's eyes widened at that remark. "No! You mustn't! If you do that, Mistress Christina will-"

_Oh yeah, that problem... _Marisa remembered that barrier girl saying something about those two being the same person. "Well, what do you suggest we do then? We sorta need to stop this whole mess."

Anya was silent, watching the witch. She had no idea what to do. After all, they had spent so long having to watch as Rena awoke and attacked any human she could find. How were they to stop her without seriously hurting Christina, after all?

After a cry of irritation, Mima dispersed the barrier surrounding the room, panting heavily. That had taken quite a bit of energy, but the soul reassured herself that it was just a momentary fatigue. She would have more than enough energy to blast the hell out of Rena soon enough.

"Suh-weet! Time to go!" Marisa whooped, grabbing her broom from the wall it was propped up on. "Now, let's find our missing miko!"

"Yes... let's..." Mima said, and the two sped off down the corridor, choosing a direction at complete random.

"Wait! Wait, you two!" Genji yelled in shock. "I need Lady Reimu's items reattached to my shell! Don't leave me here!"

Genji was left alone with Anya and the fairy, who silently watched in wonder. They were let go with no further interaction? Surely those two could have done a lot more as revenge... But they just left?

An awkward silence hung between the three. The fairy took an apprehensive glance out the window to see how well Lyra was holding up against her opponent. That green-haired Youkai she was fighting was certainly odd. It looked like she was fighting in a set pattern or something...

Genji warily stepped over to the items he had been carrying, and were now lying on the floor. He couldn't carry a pack of enchanted cards, a Gohei, and the Ying-Yang Orb on his own... He would simply have to carry something in his mouth (Certainly not the orb, it was far too big!) and deliver that one item to Reimu in hopes it provided a suitable defense.

"M...Mister Turtle?" Anya asked nervously. Genji glanced at the young Youkai. "Um... How strong are those... girls?"

"Marisa and Mima?" Genji muttered. "Well, they're pretty damn strong. Nothing compared to Lady Reimu, of course, but I'm sure they can defeat your master."

Anya seemed to wince at the old turtle's words. "I wouldn't say Rena's my master... but, you say they can win?"

"I would imagine so. Lady Reimu could easily win if I could just deliver these to her."

Anya looked at the items she had studied earlier. She had no idea how exactly they could help, since they seemed to do nothing. A stick with paper on one end, a useless ball, and playing cards?

Still, she didn't doubt the old turtle's words, for some reason. Sure, he was a vile monster who attacked without provocation, but Anya could tell he was trying to save that Shrine Maiden, and these items could potentially help.

Not that it would matter much, would it? After all, even if Rena was overpowered, they couldn't kill her without killing Christina, and no one in this manor would allow that. Subduing Rena now would only delay her plans.

And yet... Anya found herself tying the items back onto Genji's shell. Even the turtle was surprised. The fairy noticed what she was doing, but only watched silently, her eyes showing a mixture of approval and uncertainty.

"...Please, find a way to save my Mistress." Anya whispered to Genji. After regarding her for a moment, Genji nodded.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure your Mistress is unharmed, miss..."

Anya smiled slightly. "Anya Daidouji."

"Miss Daidouji, I swear on my Lady's Shrine that we will resolve this incident favourably." Genji continued. "And... I truly apologise for hurting you."

Anya nodded, accepting his apology. "You might want to tell your friends that the Shrine Maiden's in the basement, protected by another barrier spell."

Thanking Anya for her help, Genji floated a few feet in the air and took flight after Marisa and Mima with surprising swiftness.

The fairy glided to Anya's side, resting on her shoulder. "Anya... was it okay to tell them?"

The young Youkai nodded, slipping on her eyepatch. "I think so... But now I have to figure out how to save Lyra..."

* * *

"Stop messing with me!" Lyra yelled in frustration as she dodged a blatantly obvious diving stab strike from Yuuka's umbrella. "You think this is some stupid game?"

"What? Us Boss characters need to stick to certain patterns!" Yuuka argued with a chuckle, hopping back half a pace.

The whole fight had been ridiculous so far. This Yuuka person didn't seem all that fast at first, simply walking slowly towards Lyra, then suddenly thrusting forward with her umbrella. She continuously stabbed at Lyra with the tip, shouting 'Wa-ta-ta-ta-ta!', then pulling back to swing her umbrella like a sword, trying to cleave Lyra's head off.

After that, Yuuka declared 'You will not survive!', and leaped into the air, her umbrella positioned over her shoulder, before falling to the ground and slamming the earth with her makeshift weapon, sending a small, easily dodged shock wave towards Lyra.

And, to continue this farce of a battle, Yuuka then decided to start 'charging'. A faint green glow emanated from her body, and Lyra couldn't decide if she should attack or prepare to defend. After god knows how long of Yuuka's yelling, she launched... a tiny bullet that flew way past Lyra and over the mansion's roof. Finally, Yuuka leaped to the sky again, yelled 'Isn't this romantic?' and speared the ground where Lyra had been a moment before.

"Has anyone ever mentioned how screwy you are?" Lyra growled, feeling so uncharacteristically angry that it even scared Lyra a little. She could never remembering feeling so frustrated about anything.

"Probably. I'll check my list of reasons of why I hate some people later." Yuuka shrugged. "Anyway, cutscene's over. Now for my second form!"

"W-wha-?" Lyra struggled to comprehend this girl's words. 'Cutscene'? 'Second form'? What the hell was wrong with her?

With a devilish grin, Yuuka pointed the tip of her Umbrella at Lyra, who immediately prepared to counter attack. She had had enough of dodging this person's pitiful attacks. She had to end it now!

"Now, my beautiful flower of power! Release your true form and strike our Nemesis dead!"

Lyra watched Yuuka for what must have been a full two minutes before she simply decided to ask. "... Is that it?"

"Nah, it just takes a little while to start up sometimes." Yuuka said cheerfully. "Ah, there we go!"

The umbrella seemed to open by itself, and Lyra noticed how it somewhat resembled a flower, looking at how the edges curved so sharply. She also noticed the glowing markings appearing all over the umbrella, and immediately reached into her pocket to retrieve a Bomb spell.

A futile gesture, as the markings suddenly erupted in a bright, scarlet light that washed over Lyra, freezing her in place. She couldn't see from all that light! Was this it? Was this how she was to die? Frozen by a goddamn umbrella, wielded by someone far more insane than Rena?

The light slowly disappeared, and Lyra found herself slumped to the ground. Yuuka closed and shouldered her parasol, grinning triumphantly.

"My victory?" She asked.

* * *

Reimu noticed that Rena had returned, and glared at her as she approached. Rena gave her a cold grin response as she entered the hidden room.

A silence hung between the two as Rena passed her and took her seat on that table, crossing her legs as she did so. "So, miss me?"

"Lots." Reimu replied sarcastically. "You know, for a killer, you're not very good at this, are you?"

Rena raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Oh?"

"You're wasting lots of time explaining your past, instead of trying to kill me right now." Reimu pointed out. "You do realise I have ample time to find an escape route?"

Rena laughed coldly at her words. "Well, I don't want to kill you right now! Not enough 'bang' at this moment of time."

Reimu gave her a confused look that was promptly ignored. "Besides, I'm doing you a favour purely because Christina likes you. Why, I'll never know, but she does."

"...That's another thing." Reimu muttered, glaring at Rena. "You act like you love your other persona-"

"Sister." Rena growled dangerously. "If you shut up, I might be willing to explain things."

Reimu wanted to continue her statement, but decided that it might be answered in Rena's story. She might as well wait for that moment.

"Very well, proceed to recount your tale of woe." Reimu said.

Rena spared Reimu another cold glare before sighing. "Why am I so nice?" She muttered to herself.


	9. Chapter 9 the Final Stage

It had been six months since the twins had began living with Kenta.

It was rather awkward at first. Rena, for reasons that only she understood, hated wearing anything that wasn't underwear or very form-fitting, and tended to lounge about the home almost completely naked. As if it wasn't bad enough that the villagers distrusted Kenta for taking in two Youkai, but if they heard about Rena's habits, everyone was going to look at him very differently!

Christina was, thankfully, far more normal than her sister, but they were still sisters after all. Arguments over silly things were bound to happen, and Kenta was beginning to feel like some sort of father, wearily stopping the constant bickering, on top of providing for the three of them. Still, at least Christina was polite, and more than willing to help with the housework.

And, with his encouragement, the twins slowly tried to mingle with the other villagers. While it was clear that everyone else heavily distrusted them and tried to avoid the Youkai girls, they persistently took walks around the village, offering help to anyone who looked like they needed a hand with whatever task they were currently undertaking.

"Ungrateful bastards!" Rena growled one day, lounging around Kenta's sitting room. "I offer to carry a full bag of potatoes for that old hag three houses down, and she tells me to go 'poison my own food'!"

"Yeah, this isn't exactly an easy task..." Christina sighed, sympathising with her sister. "I asked the scholar if I could re-organise his book collection, and he told me that everything was perfectly fine..."

"... Kazuki probably was fine. His books are arranged perfectly already." Kenta informed the young Youkai. "But, I see your point. Everyone's a bit stubborn..."

Rena snorted and said sarcastically, "Really? They're stubborn? And here I thought they were just shy!"

Christina shot Rena a warning look, and glanced at Kenta apologetically. "As much as I'd love to be friends with everyone here, I think it's a bit of a lost cause..."

"They're just still getting used to you." Kenta reassured therm. "Well, the Elder's called a meeting for tonight. I'll tell them to give you two a chance, okay?"

The twin's didn't look all that convinced, which was understandable. Why would anyone be willing to give them a chance? they were Youkai, after all. Their origins and motives were so_ clearly _dripping with evil and malice.

Later that night, Kenta left for the Elder's home in the village's centre, as was just about every other adult. From what the twins knew of these meetings, they basically consisted of crop and trade reports, and one or two domestic issues. Now doubt Christina and Rena went under that category.

Kenta had told them not to wait up, as sometimes the meetings could drag on a bit. Sure enough, it was past midnight when they decided that they should sleep.

"I wonder if they'll force Kenta to throw us out?" Christina wondered, a small trace of fear in her eyes.

Rena, lying next to her sister, gave her a reassuring smile. "Nah, I'm pretty sure Kenta wouldn't accept that. He's actually decent, for a human."

Christina smiled back, and closed her eyes wearily. She wasn't used to staying up past ten o'clock, never mind midnight. Rena placed a comforting arm over her sister as she fell asleep.

_Still, you're taking your sweet time..._ Rena thought, wondering if a meeting should take upwards of three hours.

Before she knew it, Rena was dozing off. She was completely unaware of her surroundings, and didn't react when she thought she heard someone enter the house.

Rena had just began to fall asleep when a horrendous pain flared in her side.

Eyes snapping open, Rena instinctively retaliated, her hair growing at rapid speeds and converging on where Rena thought the attacker was standing. She heard a surprised grunt and knew she had struck him. Not that her hair was capable of injuring anyone, but at least the assailant was temporarily subdued.

"Christina!" Rena yelled, hopping of the bed to face the assailant, the pain in her side ignored for now.

Groggily, Christina opened her eyes, taking in the scene in front of her. She saw a huge mass of hair, apparently pinning something to the wall. "Rena...? Wut's happen..."

"This bastard tried to attack me." Rena growled, feeling somewhat light headed. "Who the hell're you?"

The man pinned to the wall wasn't someone the two recognised all that well. They were sure they'd seen him around the village, but he was essentially a faceless character to them.

Not now he wasn't. He wore a cold, snarling expression as he tried to free himself from Rena's hair. The young Youkai refused to relent, even though she was starting to feel weak. Just what was wrong?

"I said, who the hell are you?" Rena practically screamed, her eyes blazing inferno's of fury. "Where's Kenta!"

The man grinned coldly at her. "Are you sure you should be worrying about anyone other than yourself?"

Rena narrowed her eyes at him, her hand slowly reaching for her side. Her hand brushed against the hilt of something, and Rena froze, realising that it was some sort of knife or dagger.

"You son of a..." Rena growled, then wailed as she pulled it from her body. Blood, which had been slowly leaking from the wound, now flowed faster. Damn it, why was there so much blood?

"Rena! Oh my god, what's going on?" Christina sobbed, confused about the current situation.

"You thought that could kill me?" Rena panted, fighting to keep the tears from her eyes, a hand placed over her wound in a futile attempt to staunch the flow of blood. "You utter dumbass, I won't die from that."

The man laughed coldly at that, his eyes glinting with triumph. "Normally, yes. But we made sure to use a specialised blade for you monsters!"

Rena glanced at the blade, her vision swimming slightly now. It looked to be a silver and gold, curved, ornate dagger. She was only just now detecting signs of magic within the blade.

"Your wound will never heal." the man gloated smugly. "You'll die soon enough, and your freak of a sister too."

Rena's self control disappeared at that instant. He planned to kill Christina too? Like hell that was going to happen.

With a herculean strength she never knew she had, Rena lifted the man with her hair, choking him tightly before she launched him at the wall on the opposite side of the room. He crashed through the wall as if it were paper, landing outside the house in a crumpled heap.

Rena could hear shouts from outside. People were barging through the front door or running to the wall Rena just destroyed to get them. It all came clearly to Rena then. These people wanted the two of them dead. Kenta had to be in on it, too. That was why he was nowhere to be seen. He didn't want to get caught by the two in an assassination attempt, so everyone else would do it for him.

"That lying bastard." Rena whispered, tears pricking at her eyes. Christina was huddled on the bed, sobbing loudly. Stumbling over to her sister, Rena grasped at her shoulder, trying to pull her to her feet.

"Christina... I need you to run." Rena gasped, feeling incredibly weak from her blood loss. Christina glanced at her sister fearfully.

"B-but you're h-h-urt! I can't l-l-leave you!" She sobbed.

"You can and will." Rena replied with grim authority and finality. "I'll hold them off, and we'll meet up at the heart of the forest, okay?"

Christina hesitated, not wanting to leave Rena all alone in her state. But fear was trying to control her actions, refusing to let Christina consider staying to deeply. "Y-you promise?"

"I do. Would I ever lie to you?" Rena said, her heart wrenching at the knowledge that she probably wouldn't even make it to the village outskirts alive. Someone appeared at the bedroom door, and Rena batted the person away as best she could with her hair. "Now, come on!"

With a surprisingly firm grasp on Christina's wrist, Rena pulled her through the hole in the wall, taking a few uneven steps forward before letting Christina take the lead. She released her grip, turning to face the approaching mob, converging from and around Kenta's house.

"Don't you dare return!" Rena yelled over her shoulder, feeling her consciousness begin to slip as she struggled to stand. A sickening amount of blood trailed from the home to Rena's position, not that she cared. Her fury had turned to the villagers, some of them wielding pitchforks, scythes, or whatever other weapon they could get their hands on.

"Listen up, you dirty bastards! Anyone who pursues my sister will forever suffer my divine fury in hell!" Rena roared at the crowd, hoping she managed to intimidate even one of these monsters.

Her hair shrouded the sky above them as she tried to choke as many of them as possible. Far too many humans ducked low and charged at her, easily knocking her to the ground.

Rena's strength left her as the crowd tried to hold her down. Something was embedded in her stomach, but she didn't really care. There was no pain anymore. Well, not physical pain. Her heart was screaming at the scene, her mind furiously trying to figure out why this happened.

"K-K...ta." Rena whispered, feeling life drain from her body. "Wh..."

* * *

Reimu was silent as Rena finished her story, picturing the final scene with a sick feeling in her stomach. Reimu never realised that humans had went so far in their hatred of Youkai, and if Rena was to be believed, she truly never deserved such a fate.

"...So, how did that happen." Reimu asked, waving a hand at her. Rena understood the question.

"I don't understand the full details myself." Rena admitted, her dual-voice quiet and... somehow vulnerable sounding. "I remember sorta fleeting around Gensokyo, without a body or anything. I felt... rage. Betrayal... hurt... I wanted to find my sister, and see if she was okay."

Rena exhaled softly, remembering when she had found her sister. "I don't know how long it was since I died, but I eventually found my sister in the forest... the place we called 'the heart'.

"She was sleeping, and looked like utter hell. Christina kept mumbling something about how she messed up, how she could of stayed and helped. Could of saved me..."

Rena kept her head low, her hair forming a curtain around her face to hide the tears. Reimu found herself feeling sorry for this girl. She had died for no good reason, and her sister seemed to suffer from it. But what bugged Reimu was how Christina knew none of this. If it really happened, why didn't she remember?

"When I saw her... I wanted to fix everything that had happened. I wanted to erase the past, ease Christina's pain... and the next thing I knew, I had a body." Rena continued, sounding like she was fighting back a lump in her throat. Reimu listened intently, a feeling of sadness in her own chest.

"Somehow, my spirit entered Christina's body... I could move, feel, talk... remember everything from her perspective, as well as mine. She was so scared, so confused... and hurt. Hurt, because I lied and told her I would catch up, find her.

"So I did the only thing I could: erase all memory of me, Kenta, that whole goddamn village! I knew it was all my fault for trusting Kenta, it was me that screwed her life up so badly! I... don't exist, according to her."

Reimu realised then that Rena was acting on a twisted desire to help her sister. The Shrine Maiden didn't doubt that Rena loved her sister, but the lengths she was going to go in order to 'fix' everything... Surely, that was the last thing Christina would want?

"I'm sorry you suffered like that." Reimu said quietly. "But... something doesn't make sense here."

"If it's about Kenta, I know it's weird." Rena snarled back. "But that's what happened, okay?"

Reimu shook her head defiantly. "That can't be! You told me you never even saw him in that attack! Something must have happened to him!"

Rena simply snorted in amusement. "Oh? Like what? The Elder decided to send him on an errand so he could gut us without him looking?"

"...Kenta cared about you." Reimu pointed out. "Why would he suddenly change his mind?"

"Because he never did!" Rena yelled, and suddenly she had charged at Reimu. Before she could react, Rena had planted a fist in her stomach once again.

_Oh, here we go again..._ Reimu thought as she slumped to the ground, fighting to stay conscious.

"What would you know, Shrine Maiden?" Rena demanded, glaring at Reimu with hate. "Have you ever been betrayed by someone you trust? Have you had to lie to your sister so blatantly before?"

Rena stooped down to grab the knife from Reimu's weak grip. She glared at the thing as if it had ruined everything.

_Wait... I think it did..._ Reimu realised, staring at the knife with a pained expression.

"How fitting. The weapon that destroyed our lives now gets to destroy all of Gensokyo." Rena commented with a cold grin. Reimu thought she saw a hint of madness in Rena's eyes as she glanced back down at Reimu.

"For what it's worth, you at least made Christina marginally more happy." She grunted, and aimed a... somewhat feeble kick at Reimu's midsection. Given that she was struggling to stay awake, this was enough to finally make Reimu black out.

When Reimu had finally lost consciousness, Rena used a strand of her hair to hold the knife for her as she picked up Reimu, hefting her over her shoulder. It would have been a somewhat comical sight, a girl carrying a teenager like this, but given the circumstances, there really wasn't anything to laugh about.

Rena placed Reimu upon the table, carefully laying her on her back. She had no bindings, but it didn't matter. It wasn't like Reimu could escape, awake or not.

"Just a few more hours, and I'll fix everything." Rena muttered to herself. Or maybe it was directed at Christina.

* * *

**Two and a Half Hours Later...**

"So, my victory then?" Yuuka asked the maid triumphantly.

Lyra couldn't understand this crazy woman at all. She fought like she had serious problems, and yet she had such a power? Lyra's energy had just left her when that light hit, and she was now powerless before this Youkai.

When Lyra didn't answer, Yuuka cheerfully sat on the ground next to her, laying the now-closed umbrella beside her. "You don't need to sulk, I _am_ pretty good." She said.

"What the hell do you want?" Lyra snarled, glaring at Yuuka, who gave her a quizzical look.

"I don't think anger really suits you." Yuuka commented. Seeing the cold anger in Lyra's eyes, Yuuka decided to answer properly. "Well... I caught wind of some exciting stuff happening here earlier, that's all."

Lyra laughed humorlessly. "The flower's tell you?"

Yuuka blinked in surprise, which Lyra hoped wasn't genuine. "Yeah! How'd you know? Anyway, they told me that some old friends of mine were beating people up here, so I decided to see if I could join in."

"... Join in? Is that why you tried to harm my sister?" Lyra asked in disbelief.

"Huh...? Oh! The girl who flattened the flowers?" Yuuka seemed to recall the very reason they fought in the first place. "He he, yeah, the flowers already told me it wasn't her fault. Don't worry!"

Lyra seemed to freeze as she stared at Yuuka, trying to comprehend how infectious her madness seemed to be. After all, Lyra should have pummeled her right then and there, but instead Lyra simply watched as Yuuka got back to her feet and stared at the mansion.

"Hm... My M&M senses are tingling." Yuuka muttered, further punching Lyra's brain with nonsense. "They seem to be running wild."

Yuuka glanced back, seeing a thoroughly confused Lyra staring back at her. "You know, Mima and Marisa? Self proclaimed villain and kleptomaniac witch?"

Lyra realised who she was talking about, and immediately leaped to her feet, her lack of energy completely forgotten and ignored.

"They're WHAT?" Lyra practically roared. "Why didn't you say so earlier? What if they hurt-"

"Nah, they won't." Yuuka interrupted, smiling slightly at the mansion. "They're rough, but they won't attack unless provoked. Or find their target."

Lyra knew just what their target was going to be, and that wasn't much consolation. Chances were that the two of them were going to be defeated by Rena, before or after that Shrine Maiden's death. Their search was futile (and why hadn't they tried the basement yet?).

"But, if you want them to stop, I can help with that." Yuuka offered cheerfully.

"Like this." The flower Youkai extended her palm to the mansion, and before Lyra could protest, Yuuka sang, "Master Spark~!"

An enormous beam of pale yellow light exploded from Yuuka's hand, barreling for the mansion. In a few, short seconds, a pretty sizable hole had been carved into the lower wall, destroying pretty much everything from the front and back.

Lyra simply gaped at the destruction, her mind pretty much blank with shock. Yuuka dusted her hands off, picked up her umbrella, and marched towards the mansion with a happy grin on her face.

"You... you could of killed someone!" Lyra screeched, unfamiliar fury flooding through her veins.

"Could I have? I aimed for a spot where there were no life forms." Yuuka shrugged non-chalantly. "Besides, My spell wouldn't have killed anyone. Well, they'd be messed for a long time, but that's all."

A bullet whizzed past her ear, and Yuuka turned her head slightly to see Lyra pointed her own palm at her. She certainly looked a lot better, if even more pissed than before...

"Why do our last days have to be filled with such insanity?" Lyra growled.

Yuuka simply shrugged. "I dunno what insanity you're talking about, but if you plan to fight me again, just know that you've just used up your conti-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Lyra roared, unleashing a swarm of white and grey bullets at Yuuka, who simply opened her umbrella and blocked them as if she held a shield of diamond. "I have HAD IT with your bull crap! Just go away and stop screwing everything up!"

Yuuka no longer had any amused or grinning expressions, and instead stared at Lyra seriously. Lyra could feel tears threatening to crawl from her eyes, but she refused to cry in front of this intruder. She needed to vent her anger, and this woman was a good enough target.

The bullets stopped, and Lyra took a deep breathe, concentrating her power. thanks to the magic barriers she had set up earlier, her magic wasn't at its best, but that didn't matter. Even at full power, this insane Youkai was probably stronger still. But Lyra wouldn't let such an irrelevant detail stop her.

"Melody of the Wild Dance." Lyra chanted, and a flickering after image of herself formed between the two. Yuuka watched with a blank expression as the copy seemed to take in its surroundings, spot Yuuka... and begin some sort of solo waltz.

It was certainly an odd technique, Yuuka thought, lowering her umbrella. The dancing image drew steadily closer, stepping from side to side, spinning and otherwise moving in some sort of pattern, as if it could hear music to dance to.

When it was only three feet away, the dance changed dramatically. It's movements became faster, more erratic... and every movement launched a bullet at Yuuka.

She side stepped the first bullet, and saw a dozen more heading her way. Now Yuuka herself seemed to be dancing just to avoid the bullets. And, Lyra noted with some small satisfaction, she wasn't treating it like a game.

Yuuka however, was still treating it like a game. After all, she could just block all these bullets and punch the after image from existence. But that wasn't as fun, now was it? Besides, Yuuka figured that keeping this woman busy would prevent her from interfering in the climactic battle that should happen in the near future.

* * *

Anya had taken to watching the... battle, from the window, wondering why it seemed so silly looking. The green-haired woman didn't seem to be taking it seriously, and that frightened Anya. She knew Lyra was pretty damn strong herself, and the only person to make her seem insignificant was Rena. If this woman was treating her like a playmate...

"Anya?"

The young Youkai glanced at the door, seeing Tara standing there. She looked slightly better, albeit pale.

"Should you be out of bed?" Anya asked, worried. The fairy immediately rushed to Tara's side to offer any assistance it could as Tara limped to Anya's side.

"Does it matter? It's nearly time." She simply said, watching the ending of Lyra's battle. A bright light had flashed from the intruder's umbrella, somehow immobilising Lyra.

Anya looked at the dark sky, noting the full moon. So it was. She honestly hadn't noticed, the whole grounds were always brightened by some ancient enchantment, and Anya had been far too focused on current events to notice the night sky was upon them.

"I guess we have another half-hour..." Tara muttered. Anya simply nodded, trying to prevent herself from shaking. It was hard to accept that they might die so soon. Why couldn't that turtle and his friends fix things already?

The two watched silently as Lyra seemed to converse with the newcomer, unsure if she was in need of help. Were they really fighting?

The newcomer looked at the mansion, and they wondered if she was looking at them. Tara's gem flashed, erecting a cautionary barrier.

If Tara had known that she was attempting to block a Master Spark, she would have had better luck leaving Gensokyo on a train.

the resulting shock of the spell completely smashing her barrier, and a sizable chunk of the manor, completely knocked Tara unconscious, and sent her sailing to the other end of the room in good measure. Anya, seeing the destruction the manor, as well as Tara flying through the air like a ragdoll, pretty much fainted from fear. The fairy was left in a stupor, trying to comprehend what just happened.

* * *

"Okay, we've being flying around this place for half an hour now. Where the hell are they?" Marisa snarled in impatience.

"This place is pretty big..." Mima commented, apparently unconcerned about the importance of finding Reimu. "Where haven't we looked?"

the two tried to brainstorm a location the manor held that they hadn't yet checked. They were coming up with a blank.

"Man, where's that useless turtle?" Marisa grumbled, tapping her foot. "I'll bet he'd have one suggestion..."

"I do, it's called the basement, you simpleton!" Genji's voice called from the other end of the hall. He looked pretty haggard, as if he had been pursuing the two for a while. Which he probably had. "How could you not think of a _basement_?"

"...I forgot they existed." Marisa admitted. Mima nodded in agreement. After all, they spent most of their time at a Shrine, which only had a store house, and Marisa's house was only some dinghy place that wished it was a bungalow.

Genji glided to the duo, wishing they hadn't wasted so much time zooming everywhere but the one place they had to go to. For all they knew, Reimu could be dead right now!

_No wait, if that were true, we'd all be dead..._ Genji remembered with some relief.

"Ugh, this is such a pain." Marisa complained, producing a spell card from her robes. "I'm just gonna Master Spark a new door to the-"

At that moment, the whole Mansion shook with explosive force as a Master Spark (Which quite obviously, wasn't cast by Marisa in this instance) tore through the mansion. With a yelp of surprise, Marisa fell onto her backside, Genji somehow fell from the air, and Mima seemed completely unfazed when the huge laser ripped a path in the wall right next to them, exposing the upper floor, as well as... the basement.

When The spell resolved and the mansion stood still, Marisa shakily got to her feet, whistling at how close the spell had come to hitting them. "Man, you think she was aiming for us?"

"Nah, I doubt she would have missed if it were the case." Mima said in a tone that suggested she wasn't bothered either way. "I'm guessing Yuuka was just being a bit of a bitch."

"I swear, that woman is far more dangerous than whoever kidnapped Lady Reimu..." Genji whispered, as if fearing Yuuka would overhear him.

Mima glanced through the hole torn through the floor, seeing a large, empty looking area down below. "Well, if Rena's down there... doesn't look like she has a lot of hiding places."

"Excellent! In a few measly moments, we'll kick her ass!" Marisa declared happily, hopping through the hole. Mima simply descended through the floor, and Genji apprehensively followed Marisa.

The three arrived in the empty looking part of the basement, seeing three doors. One, Mima noticed, was protected by a rapidly fading shield spell, another seemed to lead to a proper storage area, and the last... They couldn't tell.

"Clearly, it's the ominous looking door we'll find her." Mima pointed out, and led the way.

The trio arrived in what looked like a small cemetery. Why were there graves placed down here? Shouldn't they be outside? Marisa inspected a few of them as they passed, noting that they all had the surname 'Daidouji'.

"A fitting place to meet, huh?" A cold, dual voice greeted them. Marisa jumped to attention, the Spell card from earlier still clutched in one hand, and her trusty broom in the other. Mima had simply waited the girl to emerge from the passage up ahead, and Genji did his best to hide behind the spirit.

Mima smirked coldly at her enemy. "Oh yes, I agree. You get to die in the resting place of your ancestors."

Rena threw her head back and laughed mockingly. "That's not entirely accurate, but whatever."

"Where's Reimu?" Marisa demanded, holding her Spell Card in front of her. "Tell me, or you're getting Sparked point blank!"

Rena gave the witch a cold smirk, jerking her thumb behind her. "Somewhere back there. In a few moments, I'll have you idiots beaten again and I can get around to fixing Gensokyo."

"Ha! Fix, she says! Rena fancies herself a broken soul, wronged by humanity!" Mima declared in an equally mocking tone, which got an angry twitch of Rena's eye.

"Yes, 'fix'. Unlike you, my reasons benefit everyone."

Mima struggled to contain her laughter, while Marisa and Genji looked between the two. "Listen, child. When one attempts to destroy all life, there's no 'good reason' or 'beneficial for everyone', just pure, utter selfishness."

Rena's expression was capable of killing when she glared at Mima. It was a good thing Mima was already a soul, and Marisa or Genji weren't the targets of said expression, because they feared that they really would die if she turned her gaze to them.

"Selfish? I'm doing this for Christina! What would someone like you know of helping the one you love?"

"Not much." Mima admitted. "But what I do know is that, if I were to kill everyone for the person I love, I would never be forgiven."

_Who could she possibly love?_ Marisa wondered, oblivious to the painfully obvious answer.

"I can accept being hated." Rena muttered. "As long as my sister is safe and happy."

"And she won't be, if you're around." Mima pointed. "But enough of this, we're stalling. Prepare to suffer."

Rena smirked at Mima, her eyes moving from the soul to the witch. "I hope you improved drastically since last night, otherwise this is futile."

"Oh, quick question before we get this started!" Marisa piped up.

Rena raised her eyebrow, glaring at Marisa.

"... Could you please put some clothes on?" Marisa asked.

"... Oh, come on!" Rena sighed in exasperation. "Don't you see the vest? The underwear?" Rena parted her hair, displaying far more of her state of undress anyone wanted to see.

"I do, and it makes Yuuka's pajama's look dignified." Marisa muttered, averting her gaze.

Rena resisted the urge to throttle the witch for making such a big deal over nothing. "Can we just fight already?"

Mima nodded. "Outside should provide a better battlefield."

Rena simply nodded in agreement, and moved into the adjoining room with Marisa, while Mima simply ascended through the floor. Fying through the hole, Marisa and Rena made their way outside, where Mima waited. Genji had stayed behind, making sure Rena was gone before speeding through the dark passage and arriving in a rather chilling room.

A figure lay on a table at the far end. At first, Genji didn't recognise her, what with the higher class clothing and black hair, but as he flew closer, the old turtle clearly recognised the miko.

"Lady Reimu! Lady Reimu! You must wake up!" Genji called. Reimu barely responded. At first, Genji feared that something had already happened to her, but when he became aware of light snoring, realised she was sleeping.

"... Lady Reimu! This isn't the time to be taking it easy!" Genji yelled slightly louder. He began prodding her, trying to jolt her awake. "There's an evil villain that needs a good beat down about now!"

"No... stop that, Marisa..." Reimu mumbled, shifting in her sleep. "What if someone sees us?"

Genji was silent for several moments, wishing he hadn't heard that snippet of dream. He hadn't even been aware she thought of Marisa in that way.

Ignoring what he had just heard, he decided upon something more drastic. Carefully positioning himself above Reimu, he muttered a quiet apology before dropping onto her stomach.

That certainly worked. With a strangled gurgle, Reimu sat bolt upright, knocking the turtle of of her. Clutching her pained stomach, she gasped. "Why do people keep hitting me there!"

"Lady Reimu! Thank the gods you've awoken!" Genji cried, having regained flight before he hit the ground and rose to her eye level. "We must hurry! That Rena person is currently in battle with Mima and Marisa!"

Reimu blinked in confusion as she stared at Genji, trying to figure out how he could have found her.

"...Wait, Mima and Marisa are here?" Reimu asked, realising what Genji just said.

"Yes! I have your equipment here, Lady Reimu! We must assist!"

Reimu gave a slow nod, and gingerly got to her feet. The pain in her stomach was passing, but she would have to make sure Genji got his divine retribution later. She grabbed the cards, placing them wherever she could. The lack of belts or pockets only left her collar.

Next, she grabbed the Hakurei Ying Yang Orb, feeling its power hum to life in her hands. With a fleeting thought, the orb glowed a bright white and split into two, smaller orbs, which then lay suspended on either side of her.

Then, with Gohei in hand, placed herself atop Genji's shell. "Okay! Time to end this battle!"

Genji lifted off, easily supporting Reimu's weight despite his age. He glided through the passage, passed the 'graveyard', and ascended the hole.

"You know, I had the weirdest dream just now." Reimu noted with a small frown.

"... Um, can't that wait?" Genji asked, not wanting to know the details of such a dream.

"It'll only take a second!" Reimu argued. "Anyway, me and Marisa were walking in the Forest of Magic, and then she pushed me into a giant mud-pool! Then she jumped right in after me and started chasing me!"

Genji was silent, unsure of how to respond to that. Reimu continued as if he had answered, though.

"I know, right? I think I need a break once this is all over."

Once Genji led them outside, they saw that Mima and Rena were already high in the sky, with Marisa waiting on the ground below.

"Marisa!" Reimu yelled. Flinching in surprise, she glanced at Reimu with a confused expression.

"Yeah? And you are?"

"...This is Lady Reimu." Genji stated.

Marisa peered at Reimu, looking at the surprised miko's face. When she saw past the new hair colour and clothing, she finally recognised her.

"Wow, it is Reimu! You sure look different!"

"Hm." Reimu grunted, feeling a little hurt that it took Marisa a second glance to recognise her. She wasn't that different, was she? "So... why's Mima fighting alone?"

Marisa glanced at the ongoing battle with a look of jealousy. "She wanted to fight one on one, for some reason."

"So... we have to wait?" Reimu asked, sounding disappointed.

"Yep."

* * *

"Not good enough!" Rena yelled as she dodged another swipe of Mima's crescent moon staff. Swiftly distancing herself, Rena held open both her hands and unleashed a flurry of bullets.

With a small smirk, Mima began to rapidly spin her weapon like a baton, swatting away the bullets as she weaved through them. "This pathetic assault is no better!"

When Rena stopped her assault, Mima tightly gripped her staff and swung, unleashing her own wall of bullets. As they shot towards Rena, Mima held out her free hand, and a trio of large stars joined the assault.

Seeing the bullets converging upon her, Rena flew higher, avoiding the initial wave, but the stars were a bigger problem. They were homing in on her position.

With a swipe of her hand, Rena formed her own wall of bullets, hoping to stall the large stars for a few seconds.

Her wall somehow stopped the stars, allowing Rena a few seconds to counter. As Mima watched, Rena pointed one of her hands at the Soul. "Storm of Hatred."

Like before, a flurry of bullets erupted from her hand. Unlike before, they were lightning fast, striking Mima before she could even react, and there seemed to be even more than before.

As the bullets struck Mima's ethereal body, the stars dissipated, and Rena's other hand was free to add to the barrage.

"You're already beaten!" Rena yelled, stopping her assault to see how much damage she'd inflicted.

It certainly looked like she'd injured Mima, who had bruises forming all over her body. Panting heavily, Mima barely kept a grip on her staff.

"As I thought, your power is far less than everyone hypes it up to be." Rena gloated smugly, her dark eyes twinkling. "Yeah, I did my research on people like you. You're really no threat."

Despite how badly things had turned for Mima, she grinned confidently, as if she were still fighting at full strength. "Did you now? Did your 'research' yield anything about my power?"

Rena gave Mima a suspicious glance. "What are you getting at?"

Mima pointed a finger to the sky, or rather, the full moon shining down upon them. "Do you feel it? The moon's power?" She asked, her body emanating a small glow.

"Huh? Feel it? Why would I...?" Rena said, trying to figure out what Mima was talking about. Then her eyes widened in realisation. "Wait, don't tell me! You're power is tied to-"

"He he he, caught on, have you?" Mima asked, a triumphant look on her face. "Moon! Shine down!"

As if following Mima's command, a bright ray of light fell from the moon and onto Mima, bathing her in its pale light. In actuality, Mima was simply casting a small illusion spell for theatrics sake, but it momentarily threw Rena off. She watched in surprise as Mima's bruises began to disappear.

Now feeling rejuvenated, Mima stared at Rena with a grin that could scare even the dead. Pointing her staff at Rena, she said, "Now, Rena! The true fight begins!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**I swear I don't mean to beat the hell out of Tara like this. It just happens.**

**Anyways, now that the battle with Rena is at hand, hopefully I can write decent battle scenes to make it all worthwhile. Hope you all enjoy, and I look forward to reviews, positive or negative!**


	10. Chapter 10 Deus Ex Mima

With the moon's energy coursing through her, Mima was at the top of her game. While she wasn't exactly a slouch at her 'normal' level of strength, her full power could be devastating, capable of forcing even Yuuka to take her seriously.

So, naturally, Mima decided to toy with her opponent, partly to repay the curb-stomping from earlier, and partly to show off her vast power.

Rena found herself desperately diving, ducking and weaving through the air to avoid Mima's assault. She seemed to be under some sort of berserker's fury or something, since Mima was wildly swinging her staff, creating shock waves made out of tiny, star-shaped bullets and grunting like a possessed demon.

"Hrah! Cha! Ara! Reh! **Begone!**"Mima growled, 'slamming' the crescent side of the staff onto the air between them, creating the biggest shock wave yet. Cursing, Rena realised she couldn't completely avoid the attack in time as the bullets rocketed towards her. Her hair growing longer once again, she enveloped her body as she curled herself defensively, trying to withstand the barrage.

Mima made the motion of wiping sweat from her forehead, having no sweat to wipe despite this. "Man, it's been a while since I drew upon this much power. Maybe I overdid it?"

She watched as Rena emerged from her 'cocoon', panting heavily and sporting several marking on her arms and legs where the bullets had struck particularly hard.

"That moon of yours screwed you right up." Rena snarled, glaring hatefully at the soul.

"Yeah, amazing power does that to people." Mima smiled sweetly at Rena as she prepared to attack again.

Rena tried to think of a way to subdue her enemy quickly and easily. She still had the dagger, tucked away in her hair, but that was obviously useless. Her 'Sweet Vengeance' spell, based upon that cursed blade, may actually affect her, but it was already inferior to the blade's effects...

Suddenly, Mima was charging at her once again, one hand held behind her. She seemed to be charging a spell to use point blank. Rena, with no time to think, chose her next action at random, and met her charge head on.

Mima was surprised Rena flew for herself, and her charging spell faltered slightly as Rena zipped right through her spiritual body, narrowly avoiding the spell in her hand.

Pivoting in the air, Mima threw the incomplete spell, which was a five foot long, glowing green star, resembling a shuriken. Rena glanced behind her shoulder, seeing the spell coming, and made a sharp ascension.

_Another homing spell... _Rena thought with annoyance as she saw the star arcing towards her, its shape wildly expanding and shrinking. It was pretty unstable.

Well, no way Rena was going to try and block that particular spell. Chances are it would blow up in her face, and that wouldn't do. Instead, she would use its homing to her own advantage.

Just before the shuriken-spell could strike her, Rena quickly dodged backwards, dipping below the spell and charging for Mima, who raised her staff to parry a possible attack.

Mima's spell had curved once again and was still pursuing its target stubbornly, but Rena was hoping Mima would focus her attention on herself, not the spell.

Raising her fist as she flew at Mima, Rena yelled, "Take this! Bullet Punch!"

Just before her made-up-on-the-spot attack hit, Rena dipped below Mima, avoiding the staff's swing in the process. Quickly maneuvering behind Mima, the volatile-looking star should now attempt to pass right through its own caster.

Mima seemed to freeze in shock, seeing her own spell bearing down upon her. "N-no!" She gasped, and the star then stabbed through her left shoulder, throwing Mima back.

"Ha! Far too easy!" Rena gloated, folding her arms and sneering at the soul, who was slowly beginning to fall. "I guess I was right! You are- What the hell?"

Without warning, the shuriken spell, which kept drastically changing its shape, became a perfect, six pointed star, dislodged itself from Mima, and suddenly flew at Rena.

Before she could dodge, it passed right through her body, doing no physical damage, but still sending sharp pains through her abdomen.

The star disappeared at last when it passed Rena, and she clutched her stomach with a wince as Mima smirked at her opponent, completely unharmed.

"Tell me, why did you think you were smart enough to trick me into taking my own spell?" Mima asked with a condescending tone. "It was a painfully obvious ploy. You're several centuries too early to try that kind of thing on me!"

Rena simply kept a snarling expression as Mima continued. "And furthermore, you thought I was really stabbed by that spell? Such a fool, I'm a ghost! No magic would physically stab me in such a way! Least of all my own spell!"

"Are you done?" Rena asked, slowly straightening herself. "Or are you just going to gloat over every tiny, dirty trick you pull?"

Mima simply snickered at the accusation. "A dirty trick? Sure, ambushing someone is fine, but taking a chance to complete a spell? Oooooh, what a _cheater _I am!"

"Get over that, already!" Rena growled, hating this being almost as much as the humans who had ultimately caused this whole mess. She had no time to waste screwing around with this stupid ghost. She had to get rid of them now, and kill the Shrine Maiden. Truthfully, she could take as long as she needed to kill Reimu, but now was the only time she could safely guarantee that Gensokyo would disappear forever. Any other time, and life might flourish again. No way was Rena going to allow history to repeat itself...

* * *

"Heh, I knew Mima could kick her ass." Marisa commented happily as she, Reimu and Genji watched the fight from below. It certainly looked like Mima was in complete control. Everything Rena tried was easily countered. They really had so much trouble last time?

"As long as she doesn't kill her." Reimu replied, seeing that shuriken pass right through Rena, and winced, remembering that the girl had suffered a fatal stab wound in roughly the same area. "After all, there's Christina to think about..."

"Oh yeah, the dual-personality!" Marisa seemed just remember that little bit of information. "What's she like, anyway?"

Reimu thought a little on her answer. "...Friendly, I guess. A little creepy, doesn't know Rena."

"Doesn't? But... they're the same." Marisa pointed out, confused.

"Well, Rena's actually dead, and that's her spirit in Christina's body." Reimu explained briefly. "Genji, have you ever heard of that happening before?"

Genji delved into the recesses of his mind, searching for any relevant memories of such an occurrence. It had been a while, but he did come across some information before, by some sort of necromancer bloke.

"I seem to recall it's possible..." Genji muttered. "If I remember right, the spirit possesses the body of someone they harboured a deep emotion for. Love, hate, even indifference. However, what possession entails, I'm not entirely sure on. I suppose the answer is up there."

"Incredibly useful..." Marisa muttered sarcastically.

Reimu watched Rena closely as she faced off against a gloating Mima, wondering how they would resolve this particular incident. Sure, battling was a given, but Reimu had a distinct feeling that this wasn't going to go away after a cup of tea at her shrine. Rena was the first person Reimu had come across that was seriously (well, compared to Mima, at least) trying to kill everyone. How do you convince someone that isn't exactly a good idea?

* * *

Lyra's battle wasn't exactly going smoothly either.

Not that Yuuka was on the offensive, oh no. She was still dodging Lyra's attacks. Lyra had summoned another two images of herself, each clone dancing like a lunatic and launching their own bullets. And Yuuka still hadn't taken a hit, much to the maid's dismay. The flower Youkai easily dodged most of the bullets with dance-like moves of her own, and would use her umbrella to swat or block the rest in a fluid movement that seemed a part of her dance.

Sweating with the effort of maintaining her clones via dwindling energy, Lyra noticed figures emerging from the ruined mansion, and saw that it was Rena, followed by the ghost. That witch was nearby, although she seemed to be sitting out.

"Concentrate on your own fight~!" Yuuka advised as she twirled her way past the frenzied dancers and rushed towards Lyra.

Before Lyra could react, the tip of Yuuka's umbrella was pointed at her throat, with Yuuka grinning victoriously. "Your dance squad ended up missing a beat back there."

Lyra didn't reply, instead glaring at Yuuka with a mixture of hate and defeat. The clones dispersed, one by one, as Lyra took a step back from Yuuka.

"It doesn't matter anyway. You'll die soon enough." Lyra said, her voice hollow.

"Really?" Yuuka glanced back at the mansion, lowering her umbrella as she did. Mima and the girl with freakishly long hair had just initiated battle. "I dunno, it looks like they stopped Hair-Gal before she did anything."

That was true, Lyra thought, but Rena was still a surprisingly powerful fighter. Even though she must not have a whole lot of practice (After all, waking up a month every ten years or so didn't keep one in shape), she had so much potential destructive power to use. Lyra had no idea where that strength came from, but it was quite fearsome if it was ever unleashed.

"It's a matter of time." Lyra said, her voice neutral. "All of us will die and we can't stop it."

To her... well, Lyra found she wasn't so surprised when Yuuka burst out laughing, and simply awaited for her to speak.

"Man, you're quite the pessimist!" Yuuka chuckled. "You think that runt can kill us all? Trust me, you're overestimating her far, _far_ too much!"

"I noticed that you're quite powerful, why don't you stop her?" Lyra asked, her gaze cold.

"Not my story." Yuuka shrugged. "Besides, if even the tiniest thing goes wrong, I'll be here to fix it all. Not much else to do, after all..."

Lyra gave Yuuka a weary look, and turned back to the battle. So far, it had been evenly matched, more or less, until the ghost was riddled with bullets. Then, the soul suddenly began dominating the match, unleashing wild swings and spells that had Rena running. She couldn't help but gasp in shock when Mima's star passed through Rena, thinking she might have hurt Christina somehow.

"She'll kill her..." Lyra muttered in fear.

"Everyone's gonna die, remember?" Yuuka replied teasingly. That earned a hateful glare from Lyra. "Look, trust me already! Mima's not aiming to kill!"

"And I'm supposed to trust the words of an insane woman who blew up our home?" Lyra asked.

"Well, trust the flowers then, they tell me it's all good!"

* * *

_I have to subdue her somehow... _Rena thought as she launched a fresh barrage of bullets at Mima, who, as usual, dodged them effortlessly. _She's taking too much time..._

When the last bullet whizzed harmlessly passed Mima, she pointed her staff at Rena, a small grin on her face. "Lunatic Luna!"

The moon that adorned Mima's staff glowed, but nothing happened. Rena anticipated some sort of large blast, but she was left hanging. Suspicious, she carefully watched the soul, who still had her staff pointed at Rena.

"Out of mana?" Rena asked mockingly. Mima only grinned wider in response.

_It's not doing much... _Rena thought, watching the staff glow. _Just what is she...? Wait!_

Rena realised that Mima wasn't pointing the staff at her, but rather,_ behind _her. Craning her neck, she saw what looked like an orbital bombardment, heading straight for her. Several thin, white beams of light had shot from the sky (or possibly the moon, if the soul's moon motif and spell's general direction was any indication...) and were headed straight for Rena.

Rena had barely budged when a laser brushed by her side, and another grazed her face. Several strands of her hair had burned away as she barely avoided the brunt of the onslaught. A dozen more lasers followed, mostly grazing her, but one hit her left knee dead on, and she plummeted to the ground in a cry of pain.

Her leg felt like it had been chopped off, although she could see it was still attached to her body. Just a huge, red mark where the laser hit. that was all it left? It felt like she just took a shot of concentrated heat from the sun itself!

Forcing herself to concentrate, Rena barely avoided crashing into the ground by levitating. Her head nearly cracked against the ground regardless, but at least she was still in some position to fight.

Lowering herself to her feet, Rena collapsed, unable to use her left leg.

"Shit, why did she have to get a power up from the moon?" Rena growled, seeing the huge drawback to waiting until this particular night. With the ambient magic reaching its peak on this night, during a full moon... it was like fighting an immortal deity.

Mima, seeing that Rena was effectively crippled, saw her chance to quickly end this battle. Holding her staff almost like a rifle, Mima aimed her staff at Rena, a small flicker of light appearing in the gap of her staff's crescent moon.

"What you're about to experience is a great honour!" Mima called to Rena, who simply glared back at her. "This attack is reserved only for my greatest enemies, or those I feel like obliterating thoroughly! Guess which one you count as?"

From below, Marisa watched with starry eyes. "Holy freakin' crap, Mima's going to use it!"

"Er... use what?" Reimu asked nervously.

"Her greatest attack." Marisa whispered dramatically. "A spell so powerful, it's said that Yuuka copied it to create the Master Spark!"

Reimu glanced up at Mima, watching the spell charge. "Yuuka copied it? Says who?"

"Me." Marisa said, entranced. "In fact, I heard that it's so powerful, Mima defeated an ancestor of yours centuries ago with that very attack!"

"And I'm only just now learning of this spell?" Reimu asked dubiously. "It wasn't used on me beforehand, why?"

Marisa only shrugged. "Maybe she doesn't hate you that much, after all?"

Meanwhile, the flicker of light Marisa had been charging was now a large sphere of pale blue light, practically bursting with magical energy. Any rational person would point out that, surely, this was just fatal overkill? Mima would then laugh, then tell them to watch and see.

"Finishing strike: Lunar Spark!" Mima yelled, and her sphere of light erupted, changing to a blinding beam of (metaphorical) death.

"...Shit." Rena grunted as the laser threatened to engulf her. There was no way she was shrugging that off. Time to bring out her back-up.

Mima saw her spell swallow Rena and the surrounding ground around her. By the time the spell finished, Rena should be lying in a huge crater deeper than the mansion's basement.

"That. Was.** Awesome**!" Marisa practically squee'd in excited awe as the spell blasted Rena's position. "Holy crap I want that spell~!"

"I think there's a good reason Mima hasn't taught it to you yet..." Reimu muttered, and Genji nodded his agreement. It was bad enough when Marisa had to replicate that damn Master Spark, but Mima's version was simply overkill. Unless it was only this strong during a full moon...

The blast went on for about six seconds, and Reimu couldn't help but wince and feel sorry for its victim, who must be going through hell, having to take that...

However, when the spell finally began to die down, Reimu noticed a weird discolouring in the centre of the blast. At first, the shrine maiden thought it was just Rena, but then it became clear that that wasn't all.

Marisa seemed to notice it too, and she yelled to her master, "Miss Mima! She bombed past your spell!"

"What?" Mima's spell finally disappeared, revealing Rena cloaked in fire. The ground underneath her feet still remained, but the ground extending eight feet all around her position was just a smoldering crater.

"That again?" Mima snarled, ready for Rena to launch the fire at her.

Rena didn't disappoint. Extending her hand, the fire began to snake its way to Mima's position, who was now more than ready to counter the spell.

Reimu, Genji and Marisa's attention was focused on the fire, so they didn't see Rena's next move until it was too late.

Rena's hair dropped the hidden knife into her hand, and her gaze turned to the distracted miko.

It would be tricky, killing the shrine maiden when Rena was incapable of moving. She could try and fly over, but that would just make her intentions obvious... No, she would just have to take a chance here.

There wasn't much time, Mima had been shrouded in her fire by now, but the blue and green light erupting from within her flames indicated Mima used her own bomb spell to defend.

Rena carefully judged the distance between her and Reimu. The distance was quite significant, for a human. Rena would have a slightly easier time throwing the knife at such a distance, but if she missed...

There was no time to think! Her bomb spell had dispersed, and Mima had just turned her gaze to Rena. It was now or never!

Praying that her knife would strike home, Rena wound her arm back and threw the cursed weapon. It sailed through the air, arcing slightly.

"Reimu! Move!" Mima screamed, seeing what Rena had just done. Startled, Reimu turned her gaze back to Rena, seeing the knife flying straight to her face and froze.

_Am I actually going to die here? _Reimu thought, surprisingly calmly. _Is this how it ends? Not the way I wanted to go..._

"Lady Reimu!" Genji screamed, tilting his body, causing Reimu to fall from his shell and land on the ground with a sharp gasp of pain. Her orbs clattered to the ground harmlessly, her Gohei flying from her hand.

_And now my butt hurts like hell. Thanks, Genji. _Reimu thought with irritation. Slowly, she climbed to her feet, ignoring the pain in her behind to try and figure out if she had really avoided the knife.

There was a stinging sensation near her left shoulder, but no knife embedded there. A tiny cut in her clothing indicated that the knife must have just missed impaling her.

"Reimu! Did it hit you?" Marisa asked, and Reimu was taken aback by her worried tone.

"I-I don't think so.." she muttered, investigating the tear again. Only the tiniest of cuts, no blood even drawn yet.

Marisa breathed a sigh of relief, and faced Rena with a smug expression. "How d'you like that, ya sneaky bitch! You missed!"

Rena mustered all of her self control to keep from screaming. Why? Why had she failed? It wasn't fair! Rena had aimed to stop all the suffering and injustice in this godforsaken land! Why had these idiots been allowed to ruin everything and let it continue?

Mima descended to the ground, staring at Rena with an unreadable expression. Marisa could sense waves of anger emanating from her master, and the witch couldn't help but smirk slightly. _Can't deny you like Reimu now, Miss Mima..._

"Are you done with your cowardly tricks?" Mima asked in a neutral voice, her staff gripped tightly in her hand. "Because I'd quite like to skip to the part where I blow your very soul from existence."

"... Try it." Rena growled, struggling to stand with her damaged leg. "You'll only hurt my sister by doing it. And if there's one thing I absolutely won't allow, it's for someone like you to harm Christina!"

Mima glared at the long-haired Youkai, thoughts whizzing through her head. It felt strange, getting so defensive over Reimu. there was a time when she wouldn't have bothered even rescuing the girl, all too happy to leave her to whatever fate befell her. Then Marisa took a shining to her, even if her tsundere little apprentice couldn't truly admit it. And Mima herself began to rediscover the feeling of... friendship, that she once held with the Hakurei Family. Although, she couldn't admit that to herself until she went to rescue Reimu.

Mima was only thankful the knife had missed Reimu. If it had struck, Mima would have needed to resort to an unfavourable solution to save her, and Mima sure as hell didn't want to leave Marisa...

"Hmph... Rena, what was the reason you wanted to kill everyone for?" Mima asked.

"To erase all the bullshit this place offers." Rena replied coldly. "No one can truly be happy here, so why suffer a mediocre life for nothing?"

Mima seemed lost in thought for a while, her eyes closed. Rena watched her closely, willing her leg to begin working properly.

"You are the most ill-informed being I've ever come across." Mima finally said. "You act as if Gensokyo is gripped by prejudice and hatred. We have long since moved forward."

"Don't give me that!" Rena spat. "I've seen it for myself, every time I awake. The same persecution, the hatred... it's never dwindled."

"Because you enforce the very thing you hate so much." Mima countered, and Rena froze in shock. "I'm guessing that you visit one particular place every time you wake up, right? It wouldn't happen to be a place tied very deeply to you, would it?"

Reimu, ignoring the irritating scratch on her shoulder, recalled Rena's story once again. If Mima was right in her (surprisingly accurate) assumptions, then Rena constantly visited that village that hated her and Christina so much... what else did she do there?

"...So what if I do?" Rena asked quietly. "I check other villages too. It's all the same."

"Liar."

Rena glared at Mima with all the hatred she could muster. Mima returned the look with a cold, even gaze of her own. "It's obvious that you're too deeply attached to your past. you look for anything that even remotely resembles prejudice and count that as an 'injustice', correct?"

"What would you know?" Rena roared, losing her temper. "I lived and died through the human's hatred! Why should they continue to live, while I... I..."

"I know that things have changed." Mima replied coolly. "humans and youkai live side by side these days. Well, there's still the feral guys and the occasional hater, but we've certainly moved on from before."

Marisa stepped next to her master with a smug expression on her face. "Miss Mima's right! If we all hated each other, I wouldn't be Miss Mima's apprentice!"

"And I wouldn't be Lady Reimu's loyal... uh, chauffer..." Genji piped up, realising as he did that he had no official title, and made a mental note to rectify that later.

"And I may be a youkai exterminator, but I still enjoy having some sake with 'em every once in a while." Reimu added, placing a hand to her irritated shoulder. It was really bugging her now. "Hell, I don't even exterminate anyone, all the misbehaving youkai were just bored out their minds!"

Rena's eyes darted to each of her opponents, contemplating their words. She couldn't accept what they said so easily, not after what she had witnessed... No, it had to be a trick.

And yet, Rena simply couldn't detect a lie in their words. It infuriated her, to have these idiots spout nonsesne about how wrong she was! Rena visited that village many times over the years. Always, she heard the hushed whispers, the fearful glances... things were no different to how they where over two hundred years ago.

"Now, you have one chance to simply stop here." Mima continued. "Give up, and we'll be a tad more lenient with your punishment. Otherwise, you'll wish you could die when we're through with you."

"Bit late for that..." Reimu muttered.

"...Tch. Don't think I'll let you win with mere words." Rena growled. Forcing herself to stand upright, she faced her opponents. "What I've seen and what you claim are two different things, and I think I trust myself a little more!"

Mima simply smirked at Rena. "Very well."

"Oh! Miss Mima, can I fight now? I haven't gotten to do anything yet!" Marisa begged like a child wanting a toy from a shop, and Reimu nearly laughed at the image. Unfortunately, her shoulder was proving to be quite the attention seeking distraction.

Removing her hand, Reimu noticed how sticky it felt, and saw a dab of blood over her palm.

Frowning in confusion, she gingerly felt her shoulder again, aware that her miniscule cut was bleeding.

"... Oh, crap." Reimu muttered, mild panic setting in. The blade had cut her after all? Even a tiny cut like this was going to prove fatal eventually...

Mima, after grudgingly letting Marisa have her little battle with Rena, floated by Reimu's side. "Might as well put your orbs away, Hakurei. I can't see that brat lasting much longer... Something wrong?"

"... Most likely." Reimu replied grimly, and Mima noticed the blood on Reimu's shoulder. If Mima had a heart, it would have skipped a beat.

"She hit you?" Mima gasped.

"She WHAT!" Genji turned his attention to Reimu, a horrified look on his ancient face. "Lady Reimu, I thought it missed! Don't tell me I failed to save you?"

"Hey, it didn't hit my face... that's something." Reimu weakly reassured the old turtle. Mima reached out, moving Reimu's hand away from her wound.

The cut had widened slightly, and blood slowly trickled out. At this rate, Reimu would probably die... sometime next week, but Mima didn't doubt that the wound could open even more. This was pretty bad, Mima had to admit.

"... Damn, what a mess." Mima sighed.

Reimu glanced at her wound. "Really? Seems clean enough."

Mima gave Reimu a slap over the head for her comment, and faced Rena, who had already taken to the skies with Marisa for their fight. It was clear that Rena's injured leg hampered her performance even there, but she fought back furiously anyway. She was using that 'Storm of Hatred' spell, forcing Marisa to fight defensively for now.

"...Like hell I'm letting her win..." Mima growled.

Reimu gave Mima a curious look. "Huh, you sound almost concerned about me."

"Is this really the time for your observations?" Mima grumbled.

"Well, I don't think I've got much longer."

"Neither has anyone else, so let's think of a solution, okay?" Mima replied, even though she already had one. Even if the soul would much rather find an alternative.

_Guess this was what that foreboding feeling was... _Mima realised with a sigh. Up above, Marisa had began dodging repeated blastings of 'Sweet Vengeance', the spell that had pierced her shoulder last night.

_And could I really leave Marisa alone, even if it's for a little while? _Mima wondered. When the two had first met, Marisa was alone and far more volatile, snapping at every little thing. Since Mima took the young witch under her wing, she had calmed down considerably (not that anyone would agree, since she was still liable to blow something up at any given moment) and harboured deep respect for Mima. How would Marisa react if she were to disappear?

* * *

"Get off me."

"Nah."

"Get off. Now."

"...Nah."

Lyra had found herself in quite a predicament. Watching the battle from afar, she saw the soul youkai blast the utter hell out of Rena, and had moved to intervene before that psycho killed Christina, but Yuuka had then promptly tripped the worried maid, and planted herself on Lyra's back, refusing to budge.

"If you don't move, I will make sure that you're death would frighten even the devil." Lyra growled, not exactly used to making death threats, especially when she was pinned to the ground.

"Frighten _me? _Oh-ho, this I gotta see!" Yuuka giggled, and Lyra tried to squirm free and kick her stupid green head in.

As useless as it was, Lyra tried to persuade the crazy woman to get the hell off. "Look, if I don't get there soon, that intruder really will kill my mistress! Please, just move!"

Yuuka silently watched the ongoing battle for a few moments. Even from quite a distance away, Yuuka noticed Mima's worried demeanour over the shrine maiden, apparently investigating a wound she received.

"Huh... Guess I miscalculated." Yuuka muttered thoughtfully.

"What? Don't tell me they really killed-" Lyra began in a panic, but was silenced by a tap on the head with Lyra's umbrella.

"Not that... But Hakurei might die soon."

"..That's... not a whole lot better." Lyra muttered. "Um, please move now, I can't feel my chest."

"I can feel it for you, if you like?" Yuuka offered with a wide grin, and chuckled at Lyra's furious attempts to squirm free.

_Still, if Mima doesn't do something, we might actually have a problem... _Yuuka thought, turning her attention back to the ghost, who seemed to be contemplating her actions. As wild and screwy as Yuuka might be, she still had enough sense to tell how a person was feeling, or what they were thinking, and it looked like Mima was seriously considering saving the shrine maiden.

"Good news! No one's gonna die." Yuuka cheered, turning her attention back to Lyra, who seemed to be having some difficulty with breathing. "Hey, uh... maid person?"

A small groan was the reply, and Yuuka immediately hopped to her feet.

"Silly woman, you should've said if I was too heavy!" Yuuka scolded lightly. "I could've suffocated you, ya know!"

_I wonder if I've died already, and this is my hell? _Lyra wondered as her pained ribs and back were relieved of the pressure.

* * *

Barely dodging another one of those annoying lasers, Marisa shouted at Rena, "Wanna stop spamming that? I've got a better laser to show off!"

"I'll stop when you take the goddamn hit!" Rena roared back, firing yet another 'Vengeance' laser.

Rena could feel her energy depleting fast, and cursed her own stupidity. Why did she let those two live the previous night? Why was she so confident that she could win? So many years of harboured hate and sorrow, wasted on her choice to fight these irritating freaks on a night she really, _really_ couldn't afford to mess up.

Tired with constant dodging, Marisa decided to throw caution to the wind and launch her own offensive. So what if she took a hit? Marisa could take it and deal the hurt back double - no, _triple_ - the amount she recieved.

With two spell cards clutched in her hand, Marisa raised them to the sky as she steered her broom away from Rena's barrage of lasers.

"Starlight Duster, Master Spark!" Marisa yelled, and hundreds of tiny, pink stars surrounded Marisa, obscuring her from view. The stars helped to block the lasers still coming for her, and when they all lunged at Rena, it gave Marisa plenty of time to aim her Master Spark at a frantically dodging Rena. To the witch's annoyance, Rena had dodged each and every star so far, but it was obvious that she was pushing her limits, and her hair wasn't doing any dodging of its own, which Marisa took to mean she was on her last legs.

With a small, explosive sound, Marisa's second spell card fired the Master Spark. Rena saw it coming and saw she had no way to defend. She had used up her Bomb spells. With nothing left to do, she simply curled up into a ball and tried to withstand the blast.

When the spell washed over her, Rena realised that she was screwed now. Pain coursed through her entire, battered body, and she collided with the ground shortly after, stunned from the impact.

She was knocked several feet away from Lyra and Yuuka's location. She stared blankly at Lyra's horrified expression and Yuuka's irritating smirk.

_It's not fair... I did no wrong. Why did I lose? _Rena wondered, feeling her consciousness slipping. _All I wanted to do was avenge my sister..._

**Is that entirely accurate?** A familiar voice echoed in her head, and Rena's eyes widened momentarily, before fluttering shut.

"R-Rena?" Lyra muttered in shock, seeing the defeated girl lying before her. Even if she hated this side of her mistress so much, she was still Christina somewhere inside, and seeing her like this broke her heart. It made her feel like she failed to protect her most beloved person.

"Man, she took a beating." Yuuka commented, and anger flared in Lyra as she stumbled to Rena's side.

"If you hadn't kept me here, she wouldn't have taking that beating!" Lyra snapped.

Yuuka shook her head with an amused smile. "Yeah, she would've. The only difference is, you would have gotten your ass kicked alongside her."

"Hey~! She down for the count?" Marisa's voice called from above. Slowly descending from the sky, Marisa hopped off her broom, staring at Rena's unconscious form. "Huh... kinda disappointing. I wanted to last at least as long as Miss Mima..."

Lyra moved herself between Rena and Marisa, arms outstretched. "You've done enough, intruder. I won't allow you to hurt her any more."

Marisa scowled, then her expression brightened. "Fine, then we'll fight instead!"

"That won't do, Kleptosame." Yuuka sighed wistfully, as if fondly remembering good times. "I already fought her to her last life, she can't continue any further."

"...Has she been talking like that ever since she got here?" Marisa asked, and Lyra gave a small nod. It seemed that this witch had suffered her nonsensical words at some point, too.

Marisa huffed, looking like a spoiled child being denied her whims. "Well, great, so I don't have any opponents left to fight?"

"None here, anyway..." Yuuka muttered in mysterious voice, which Marisa ignored. She had the sense not to try and make any sense of Yuuka's words. Since when did they ever mean anything?

"Ah, I see you finished her!" Mima's voice came from several feet away. Genji, carrying the injured Reimu, followed Mima as they made their way to the small gathering.

Reimu saw Lyra standing protectively over Rena's unconscious body, and felt some small, insignificant satisfaction that Lyra's obvious lies from earlier were exposed. Unfortunately, that small, insiginificant satisfaction was drowned by thoughts of her imminent death, as her wound continued to spill blood.

Lyra glared at them as they approached, and noticed Reimu's injury. Her gaze softened somewhat. "...Rena succeeded, then?"

"Looks like it." Reimu sighed.

"...My apologies." Lyra said, knowing how little her sincere words meant.

"Eh? Reimu's hit?" Marisa said in confusion, and studied Reimu's wound herself. "What the hell? Reimu, don't tell me you're gonna die?"

Reimu blinked at Marisa in surprise. "Wait, you're concerned too? I wasn't aware you liked me that much."

"I, well... er..." Marisa mumbled, averting her gaze. Mima sighed, and leaned close to Marisa, whispering in her ear, "Here's my final lesson: It's okay to feel concerned about your friends and/or love interests."

Marisa flinched away from Mima as she'd just shocked her. "L-love interest? Miss Mima, I don't love her! I-I swear!"

"Your red face says otherwise." Genji pointed out, and immediately shrank away when Marisa raised her broom, glaring in his general direction.

Reimu herself looked somewhat embarrassed, and busied herself looking at the night sky, wondering just how long it would be until the Hakurei Barrier began to collapse as her life ebbed away.

However, Marisa realised exactly what Mima had said, and gave her a worried, suspicious look. "Wait, 'final' lesson? What d'you mean by that?"

"It means..." Mima sighed, glancing from Marisa to Reimu. "That I'll need to do something about this."

Marisa gave her master a confused look, and Mima sighed. "Basically, I'll be going away."

"Eh? How can that possibly help?" Marisa yelped. "Miss Mima, don't go! At least, not without me!"

"It's not a place you can follow me too." Mima answered sadly. With a small flash of light, Mima's staff appeared in her hand. "I won't be needing this, either, so I might as well pass it on."

Marisa gazed at the staff in surprise. "B-but you said... that I couldn't receive that until I-"

"You graduated long ago." Mima shrugged. "... I just didn't want you to leave me so quickly."

_D-do they even remember us? _Lyra wondered as she watched the scene before her unfold.

Marisa gazed at the staff a while longer, stunned. It was too sudden for her. Marisa didn't want to 'graduate' if it meant her master disappearing for whatever reason!

"Miss Mima... I-I wouldn't leave you!" The young witch said pleadingly. "Sure, I'm awesome and stuff, but I don't think I'm better than you yet!"

Mima smiled slightly at her words. "Come on now, I can't hold your hand forever. Even if you borrowed half your move list, you're still an accomplished magician, and pretty damn strong for a human. Just take the damn staff."

With that, Mima thrust her weapon into Marisa's hands, where it began to glow a light violet colour.

"W-what's going on?" Marisa asked.

"It's just reforming to your preference." Mima explained. "That's one of the cool things about it; it changes to suit its owner's style.

The staff began to shrink in Marisa's hands, gradually becoming smaller and smaller until it could fit in the palm of her hand, and its shape changed. When the light faded, everyone present was looking at an eight-sided, wooden object with an octagonical hole in the centre.

"Hm? A Hakkero? Interesting." Mima commented.

Marisa stared at the object in her hand, feeling power pulsing within her weapon. In her mind, she could envision pointing it to the sky, muttering the words of a spell, and a laser shooting straight into the stratosphere.

"It works... like some sort of focus point..." Marisa muttered.

"Congrats, you obtained the 'Tool of Ultimate Destruction'!" Yuuka cheered.

"Gods, save us..." Genji muttered.

"So yeah, about the cursed wound that's killing me as we speak..." Reimu said, hoping to attract some attention back to her problem, and find out just what Mima's solution is.

Mima placed her hand on Marisa's shoulder, and began to guide her away. "In a minute, 'kay? Just got something really important to say to my beloved apprentice!"

Reimu, Marisa and Lyra stared at the two in disbelief as Mima led them out of earshot and began whispering in her ear. _This had better be something important... _Reimu thought with more than a little irritation. _I feel like my life isn't entirely significant at the moment..._

The two returned quickly, with Marisa looking somewhat happier, but still pretty upset about her master leaving.

"Okay, Hakurei, here's the deal." Mima said. "...I have to trasfer my existence unto you."

"...Come again?" Reimu said, bewildered.

"I counteract the 'curse of death' with the 'gift of life'." Mima explained. "Or something like that. You'd better appreciate this, because I'd normally not bother my ass helping you."

Reimu regarded the soul for a moment, feeling surprise and gratitude. She hadn't expected Mima to ever save her life. Then again, since Reimu's life was all that was keeping the Barrier around Gensokyo, perhaps it was in Mima's best interests.

"Just do me one favour." Mima whispered, and Reimu leaned forward to hear. "Make sure Marisa's all right. At least, once in a while, okay?"

Reimu was pretty confused by the request, but she nodded regardless. It was something she could live with, after all.

Mima gave the wound another look, and saw that her arm and side was coated with blood, down to her hip. It wouldn't be long before the blood loss became a serious problem.

"Not another moment to waste then." Mima said, and placed her hands on either side of Reimu's face, leaning in uncomfortably close. "Watch closely, Marisa!"

"Sh-shut up!" Marisa yelled back.

Reimu herself, looked somewhat embarrassed. "Uh, Mima? What exactly are you-"

Before she could finish, Mima suddenly leaned forward, and Reimu thought their lips met. Before Reimu could beat her spirit back into flesh for such an action, Mima passed right through her, seemingly dissolving before her eyes.

Rubbing her lips, Reimu gave everyone a bewildered look. "Uh... did she really try to...?"

"I sure hope not..." Genji and Marisa growled in unison.

"I do." Yuuka added, possibly just to annoy the witch and the turtle.

"...I'm taking Rena back to what's left of our home." Lyra sighed, seeing that she was essentially forgotten.

A flash of pain surged through Reimu's shoulder, and she yelped, clutching her shoulder. Marisa instantly rushed forward, gripping her good shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

Looking at the wound through Reimu's fingers, Marisa saw the blood beginning to stop its flow. After a moment, it stopped completely, and the cut began to close.

"... She did it." Marisa sighed, her eyes beginning to water. "She saved your life, Reimu."

"...Yeah." Reimu smiled weakly at Marisa. "Guess I gotta repay her somehow."

Yuuka cleared her throat audibly, gaining everyone's attention.

"Well, now that my vast, meaninful input of this incident is at a close, I must be on my way." Yuuka said, beginning to walk away. "May we meet again in another stage, my eternal rivals!"

With out a goodbye reply, Yuuka walked off into the distance.

"...Think she's gonna walk over the mountains?" Marisa asked.

"Who cares?" Reimu shrugged, and made a disgusted face. "Ugh. Sorry Lyra, this dress is ruined."

"...It doesn't matter." Lyra replied, feeling infinitely more sane and normal without Yuuka around. She carefully hoisted Rena into her arms. "You are welcome to recuperate at our home for now, Miss Hakurei... uh, Miss Kleptosami, was it?"

"Eh? It's Kirisame! Where'd you get Kle-ah..." Marisa remembered Yuuka calling her that that nickname. "Well, thanks, I guess."

"I don't get a menion?" Genji asked in irritation. "Honestly... Just 'cause I'm old doesn't mean I'm not important enough to even be asked a simple question. Why do I even bother tagging along, anyway?"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**I hope that battle was satisfying enough. I had to downplay it from my original idea (Rena VS Reimu, Mima, Marisa AND Yuuka? Overpowered, much?) and have Rena at a far more reasonable level of strength. Perhaps she wouldn't do too badly against 'normal' Mima? Speaking of Mima, I hope her solution doesn't come across as a huge ass pull. And I know Marisa is supposed to get that Hakkero from Rinnosuke... But I feel obtaining it this way helps add an extra reason she treats it so well.**

**Would've had this out a few days ago, but I had no internet connection. Bit of a recurring problem, that. Oh, and that problem that didn't allow me to update for god knows how long... And I only just came across the solution . Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	11. Chapter 11 Resolutions

"It's been a while since we talked, huh?"

Rena stared at her twin sister in surprise, wondering how they were talking like this. This had never happened before. Rena became aware of their black surroundings, and wondered if this was all within her - no, Christina's - mind.

"...Is this real?" Rena asked.

"I dunno." Christina shrugged. "I wanna say it is."

Rena nodded. "Then I suppose it is."

There was a silence between the two for several moments. Christina, searching for something to say, decided to simply cut to the chase. "So, Rena... Looks like you've been keeping me in the dark for a long time."

Rena flinched at her words, and guilt crossed her face. "You... You remember?"

Christina nodded gravely. "Yeah. Guess your hold on my memory slipped when you were fighting."

Christina took a few steps towards her sister. Briefly, Rena wondered if there was an invisible floor underneath them, or if they were simply floating. Strangely enough, it felt like both.

"I remember everything. Kenta, the village... and everything you've done since then."

Rena's eyes widened in horror as she stepped away from her sister. "Y-you..."

"We share a mind, you know. Now that I'm aware of you, there's nothing I can't see." Christina stated with a shadow of a smile crossing her face.

Rena hung her head, too ashamed to look at her sister. "Then... you know what I've been up to."

"I do."

Another awkward silence. Rena couldn't take it. She wanted Christina to shout at her, scream her rage and hatred at Rena's actions for every human or youkai that got in her way. For what she tried to do to Gensokyo.

"I would, but I was never good at that kind of thing." Christina smiled slightly, and Rena flinched again, wondering how Christina could smile at a time like this.

"I can because I finally get a chance to talk to you, after so long," Christina answered Rena's thoughts, and stepped closer again. "And don't you dare move away. You'll hurt my feelings."

Rena stood her ground as Christina embraced her sister. As much as she felt she didn't deserve it, she was happy to hug her sister again, even if it was only some weird dream.

The embrace seem to last forever, which Rena was more than happy about. It meant she could put off having to talk about what a horrible bitch she had been all these years. Unfortunately, they had to part some time, and Christina moved half a pace back, holding Rena's hand.

"Well, first thing's first; I'm sorry I ran away all those years ago."

"W-what?" Rena was taken aback by her apology. What was she to apologise for? "Christina, I told you to run!"

"And I shouldn't have listened." Christina replied sadly. "I shouldn't have let you suffer alone."

Rena shook her head. "No, if you had died with me, I would have felt worse."

"Jeez, can't you find a single fault in me?" Christina aked teasingly, and Rena found herself smirking despite her guilt.

"Well, you always were the stupid one." Rena replied.

"Meanie."

The sisters giggled together, reminding each other of simpler times, when they could find joy in living in a forest, drawing comfort and happiness from the other.

Christina looked at their infinitely black surroundings with a frown. "Hey, why are we here, anyway? Can't we think up a far better place?"

"Like where?" Rena asked. "The mansion?"

Before they realised it, the background had transitioned to the mansion's grounds, with the building towering behind them.

"Much better." Christina nodded her approval, sitting down on the grass. Rena seated herself next to her sister, overlooking the large area that Christina called home.

_She was happy here, and I was going to take that away... _Rena realised, and could feel horrified tears beginning to form. An arm draped over her shoulders, and Christina pulled Rena into another hug.

"I forgive you." Christina said quietly, beginning to stroke her sister's overly long hair. "Everything you did, it was because of the human's fear. I won't condone your actions, but..."

"You know that isn't the case." Rena interrupted, tears flowing down her cheeks. "Yeah, I wanted to get them back for what they did to us - to _you_, but at some point... It became all about me."

Christina remained still and silent as Rena pushed herself away, unable to touch or look at her sister. "I kept telling myself it was all to save you... but you were saved already, and I wouldn't admit it. Because I'm a jealous bitch."

Christina was aware of all this already, having had the memories and feelings rush through her mind once Rena's control had faltered. However, Christina felt that the issues couldn't be properly resolved until Rena admitted her guilt, which was what the troubled youkai was currently doing.

"I was so angry that I died over nothing, I was so confused that I blamed Kenta for everything, I.. I..." Rena buried her face in her hands and began to sob uncontrollably. Even knowing that Rena felt undeserving of her affection, Christina placed a comforting hand on her sister's back.

"I nearly killed you, just to spite them." Rena whispered. Christina could recall that only too well, thanks to Rena's memories. The horrified looks on Lyra's, Tara's and Anya's faces as Rena pierced her own chest with her spell, barely missing her heart in the process. Even with her youkai strength, Christina nearly died.

"I forgive you for that too." Christina said quietly. "You were consumed in your emotions, you couldn't think clearly-"

"What kind of excuse is that!" Rena shouted, rising to her feet. "All that shows is that I'm a deranged psycho that you need to get rid of!"

Christina looked hurt as Rena avoided eye contact with her sister. As much as it pained her to say it, Rena had to get Christina to understand that she was dangerous. Now that she was calm, Rena had the presence of mind to warn her sister, but who was to say she wouldn't go on another murderous rampage?"

"Why would you?" Christina asked in response to that thought, getting to her feet. "Did you ever enjoy killing anyone?"

"I..." Rena thought back to every time she had murdered someone in cold blood, trying to satisfy her thirst for revenge. Every kill left her hollow, as if taking someone's life was completely meaningless. Then the guilt would creep up on her, and Rena simply wouldn't understand why she felt that way. Surely it was only fair?

Christina shook her head as she stepped closer to Rena. "You never believed it was fair, did you? After all, those people you killed were descendants of those villagers, told a biased version of that night. It wasn't their fault."

"I still killed them." Rena stated. "Dozens lie in graves because I..."

"Do you regret all those deaths?" Christina asked.

Rena faced her sister desperately. "Of course I do! I wish I'd never given in to my desires, but I can't do anything to fix my mistakes..."

Christina gently embraced her sister, making sure she couldn't pull away. "If you're truly sorry, the best you can do is repent, and beg forgiveness."

"What would that fix?" Rena asked as fresh tears started to fall.

"I don't know. Maybe your apologies won't be accepted. Maybe the dead will forever hate you... But wouldn't you feel a little better knowing that you tried to make amends?"

Rena was silent for several moments, contemplating her sister's words. Finally, she returned Christina's hug, sobbing quietly.

"You're right. I have to try." she whispered.

"Good. I think we know were to start." Christina answered happily.

* * *

Reimu, Marisa and Genji had found themselves staying at the damaged mansion for a couple of days.

Reimu had decided to wait until Christina or Rena had woken up again, to try and talk about this incident. Marisa stayed because, 'there's still a chance Rena'll come back', and Genji stayed because... well, Reimu would need a ride home eventually.

However, the young mistress hadn't awoken since that battle, and the mansion's residents were growing quite worried.

Reimu found herself walking the mansion's grounds, once again offering her thanks to Mima. The wound had sealed completely now, leaving no trace that there was ever a life threatening scratch.

Wearing a white yukata with a matching ribbon tied in her hair, the young shrine maiden wondered why exactly Mima decided to save her. For some reason, she couldn't quite accept the reason she told herself earlier, that it was for the sake of saving everyone else, or even just herself. Marisa probably had something to do with that, if Mima's request was any indication.

That was another thing... Ever since that night, Marisa had been slightly less loud and annoying. Most of the time, she just remained silent, rarely commenting and occasionally glancing at Reimu. She hoped Marisa didn't resent her for Mima's decision...

Up ahead, Reimu noticed Tara staring at the sky, her back to the shrine maiden. If Reimu remembered right, she was the woman who shielded the whole area with a barrier... and got her ass kicked by her rescuers.

"Something interesting up there?" Reimu asked conversationally as she approached. Tara simply shook her head.

"Just tried to restore the barrier." She muttered. "But my head's been a mess ever since I tried to block that giant laser."

"Ah... Yeah, you're gonna be recovering for a while..." Reimu said, wincing at the thought of having your very mind suffer a Master Spark.

Tara simply nodded again, looking somewhat down. Reimu figured it was because of Christina's condition, but her next words proved that wrong.

"Then again, there's no need for one right now, is there? The one's we were supposed to stop broke through and beat us all regardless." She sighed.

"Ehehe... Yeah, that's kinda our thing." Reimu said apologetically. "Especially Marisa and Mima. They specialise in blowing stuff up."

"And I specialise in protecting those dear to me." Tara sighed. "And I proved especially useless at that."

"Oh, hey... c'mon..." Reimu said lamely, unsure of what to say to comfort this woman. "I'm sure you do a good job... You just got unlucky."

Tara laughed, although there was no humour in her voice. "And now our former prisoner comforts me. How did I sink so low?"

Reimu blinked dumbly, wondering if she had deeply offended the woman. Tara exhaled silently.

"I apologise, Miss Hakurei. I'm just... I just feel like I let every one down, that I didn't do enough to stop Rena..."

Reimu shook her head at Tara's words. "From what Lyra told me, trying that didn't work out too well."

Lyra had filled Reimu and the others in on the blanks of the group's knowledge on the Daidouji's. Apparently, Rena once grieviously injured herself to show that they couldn't defy Rena, or Christina would die. For someone possessing her sister's body, that was pretty damn harsh, Reimu thought. It was no wonder that they hadn't tried opposing her again.

"Perhaps, but your friends proved that we should have done more." Tara replied.

"Assuming you could beat up your mistress' sister." Reimu pointed out.

Tara was silent, having no reply to offer. She gazed at the ruined mansion, noting that they would need to rebuild the damaged part at some point, and wondered if her mistress was okay. It was extremely worrying that she hadn't woken up yet, and the witch had swore that she hadn't used that much power...

* * *

"So... Why did you want to visit the library anyway?" Anya asked.

"Eh, might as well find something to read while I wait for that lazy ass shrine maiden to leave." Marisa shrugged.

Marisa had asked the young youkai if they had a library with any decent spell books to learn from. Even though the Daidouji's library was only filled with compiled stories from all around Gensokyo throughout the centuries, that hadn't stopped Marisa from wanting to visit. Anya, naturally, was the guide, as it was kind of her domain.

Anya kept her leather-bound book clasped tightly in her hand as she guided the blonde witch through the many shelves. She proudly bragged about how she alphabetically arranged the whole library single-handedly, and how quickly she learned to read and write just to read everything the library had to offer.

"Although, I'm kinda only halfway there..." Anya admitted with a laugh. "I spent a lot of time writing in this book, and some books are just so dull I put off finishing..."

"What's in that book anyway?" Marisa asked, nodding at the book in Anya's hands. "Can I see?"

"N-no, it's nothing interesting..." Anya hugged the book closer to herself, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"'Nothing interesting'? You stuck me and Miss Mima inside an illusion with that thing!" Marisa pointed out. "I just wanna see how you did it! Come on!"

Anya refused once again. "No! Only I can work the magic!"

Marisa simply huffed, and turned her attention to the book shelves. Picking one out at random, Marisa read, "'Kitty the Werewolf: Living in Human Skin'... What?"

"If I remember right... it's about a half-wolf, half-human youkai who tries to fit into human society, but has murderous impulses during the full moon and transforms!" Anya noted. "I heard it's based on a true story."

"Hm." Marisa grunted, opening the book at the first page.

Anya watched Marisa read the first page or two, wondering if she should at least guide her to an armchair or something. It looked like the witch was absorbed in the story already.

"Uh... Marisa?" Anya tried to get her attention. Instantly, Marisa snapped the book shut.

"Boring." Marisa grunted, sliding the book back upside down.

With a flicker of annoyance, Anya replaced the book in its proper position while Marisa browsed the rest of the shelves. _Isn't there anything interesting enough to take my mind off things? _She wondered.

These past few days had been... tough, to say the least. Marisa was still trying to deal with Mima's absence. Of course, Mima had promised her that she would return somehow, but it may take a long time. Until then, Marisa was masterless... motherless, again.

It hurt her to once again lose someone she considered a parent. Since Mima was already dead, Marisa never thought it possible to lose her. She wanted to be her apprentice forever, if that's what it meant to have Mima in her life. Now, she was gone...

_Well, I still have Reimu... _Marisa thought. Just the previous night, Reimu had tried to talk to Marisa about Mima, and told her that she was welcome to visit the shrine any time, and Reimu would see if she could afford some sort of memorial item to honour Mima. Marisa had told her it wasn't necessary, and Mima would've blown it up on sight anyway.

If Mima were around, she would no doubt notice that Marisa was troubled, and probably shake things up just to try and cheer her up. The young witch knew that trying to hide away for a while wouldn't make things any better, but it was probably the most comforting course of action right now.

"Excuse me, Marisa?" Anya's voice broke Marisa from her reverie. "You've been quiet for seven minutes now. Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, no... Nothing's wrong!" Marisa said, grinning widely. "Just wondering where the good books are, is all."

Anya looked thoughtfully at the shelves, her visible eye scanning each book as if she could determine their contents through a mere glance.

"I'd say there's at least three hundred and twenty nine 'good' books on this row alone." Anya finally said.

"...Huh." Marisa wasn't sure what to say. "Say, I've been wondering... what's with the eyepatch? I'm quite sure your other eye's fine."

Anya looked embarrassed and began drumming her fingers over the book that never seemed to leave her grasp. "Er, well... it's like... Um..."

"What? It can't be that bad!" Marisa said in wonder.

"It's, uh... hetra- no, hetora- Ugh! Hetero...chromo? Irididium-blagh!" Anya couldn't seem to pronounce the words right. "It's... My right eye's miscoloured."

Marisa looked somewhat confused. "And? Don't tell me that's embarrassing."

"My vision in that eye is also atrocious," Anya added. "It's unheard of for a youkai to contract such a condition, and at such a severe level... Keeping that eye covered improves my overall vision."

"Ever tried glasses?"

"Don't like them."

A silence hung between the two for several moments. Finally, Marisa said, "So, what's in that book? I'd like to see."

"No! It's not that interesting, I swear!" Anya protested, backing away from Marisa.

* * *

Christina's room wasn't really all that grand, compared to the rest of the mansion. Sure, it was big enough to house a family, but it was barely different from every other room, except for excess amounts of blue adorning the walls, carpet and curtains. Even the furniture was varying shades of blue. Lyra felt the room was a bit cold, but Christina loved it, for whatever reason.

Right now, the mistress was still fast asleep in her four-poster bed, breathing quietly as Lyra sat by her side. She hadn't left the room at all since she brought her mistress inside to rest, except for the bathroom. She adamantly refused for anyone else to do the same, telling them to busy themselves with rest or restoration.

It worried Lyra that Christina hadn't awoken yet. as far as she could tell, the only real injuries she suffered were some bruising on her limbs and ribs, and a few burnt hair strands. Was she fighting Rena for control deep within her subconscious? Had she received a severe injury that wasn't detected?

It pained Lyra, not knowing the exact problem. It made her feel useless as a servant. As a big sister. For so long, she had served the Daidouji master's, with no such problem as this ever occuring. Now that Christina lay vulnerable, Lyra wondered is she was truly worthy as a servant.

And of course, there was Tara and Anya to worry about. She could tell that they felt somewhat down about failing in their task to stop the witch and the ghost, even if they had beaten Rena in the end.

Tara felt jealous over Anya's initial victory of the intruders, and felt useless since she was easily beaten. Anya felt sorry for herself, feeling that her weakness allowed the intruders to break free of her illusions. And Lyra herself... She had let this madness continue. The maid felt as if she were the true 'villain' in this scenario.

Lyra heard a soft moan and her attention immediately returned to her mistress. Christina was shuffling in her sleep, as one would do if they had awoken too early and needed 'five more minutes'.

"Christina!" Lyra felt intense relief at seeing some sign of life. Christina blinked her eyes open, gazing at Lyra with a small frown.

"What? Is something up?" she asked blearily.

_She still doesn't remember... _Lyra thought. Well, that would have to change. For too long, it had been hidden from Christina. She needed to know the truth, seeing as it was another persona inside her that was causing so much distress!

"...Mistress, I..." Lyra said, rising from the seat she had occupied for days now. As Christina raised herself to a seated position, Lyra suddenly embraced her, pulling the young youkai tight against her.

"Wah! L-Lyra! What's wrong!" Christina yelped in surprise.

"I'm so sorry." Lyra whispered, feeling tears threatening to escape. "I should of told you so long ago... I shouldn't have kept you oblivious to her..."

Christina was silent as she listened to Lyra, then returned her hug warmly. "It's okay, I know."

Lyra stiffened, then slowly pulled back to face her mistress, surprise and fear in her yes. "You... know of Rena?"

Christina nodded in affirmation, then pulled the blankets off to climb out of bed. She was wearing a pale violet nightgown, which Christina wasn't too fond of.

"From what I'm remembering..." Christina muttered with a small smile as she and Lyra sat on the edge of the bed. "Rena tried telling you who she really was, and you didn't believe her?"

Lyra nodded slowly, recalling the first time Rena had awoken. Spouting nonsense about revenge and the abundance of evil in Gensokyo, Lyra found it hard to believe Christina was related to Rena in any way. But now that Christina was aware of this other side of her mind, was it really true? Why hadn't Christina ever known?"

"If I'm guessing right, the answer to the question in your head is memory erasure." the young mistress smiled in amusement to her servant. "Rena was trying to protect me, by making sure I couldn't remember her, or our past."

"But... why?" Lyra asked.

"I think I should get everyone together to explain that," Christina replied. "It'll take a while to explain... and there's someone who needs to speak with you."

Lyra didn't take long to guess who it may be, and her gaze darkened slightly, which Christina noticed.

"I want you to at least hear her story before you talk." Christina said. "I know it's asking much, but I promise, Rena regrets everything she done."

The maid was finding it difficult to believe, after everything that had happened, but she couldn't very well refuse to meet this girl. She was a part of Christina, after all, she would have to face her eventually. Lyra didn't plan on backing down from their meeting. No, now was the time to stand up to her.

"Very well." Was Lyra's reply.

* * *

It was a rather joyous reunion, Reimu and Marisa noted, when Lyra had brought Christina to the foyer, where her twin-statue was located. Reimu and Tara had met up up with them when they returned to the mansion, and fairies were immediately alerted and spread the news all around the house. Anya and Marisa somehow arrived less than than a minute later.

As the Daidouji's and miscellaneous fairies engaged in what looked like a battle of the hugs, the shrine maiden and the witch hung back, letting the family have their moment.

"Man, you'd think Carrie'd disappeared or something..." Marisa muttered.

"Well, _Christina_ did fall into a coma." Reimu pointed out sarcastically.

"Still around, wasn't she?" Marisa shrugged.

Reimu simply rolled her eyes and the two were silent again. This was probably the most interaction the two had for a while.

With a quick glance at the witch, Reimu said, "Marisa... do you resent me?"

"Huh? Where'd that come from?" Marisa asked, surprised.

"Well, you seem to be avoiding me." Reimu said as casually as she could. "Not that I'm bothered over whether or not you like me, but..."

Marisa gave the shrine maiden a questioning glance, finding her attitude eerily familiar.

Scratching the back of her head nervously, Marisa said, "Well... I don't resent you, but..."

Reimu gave Marisa a silent look, her face devoid of any expression. The recently-appointed 'master' witch found herself thinking about how cute Reimu looked with the new hair colour, but quickly shooed that thought away.

"... But, it's just kinda hard to talk right now." Marisa finished lamely.

Reimu made an 'Mm' sound, but said nothing, instead turning her gaze back to the Daidouji's who were busy blubbering their apologies over their lack of power, and promises to be far better sisters. Christina seemed overwhelmed by the attention.

"By the way, where's Genji?" Marisa asked, and Reimu simply shrugged.

* * *

In the Daidouji's garden, by one of the many ponds that littered the grounds, an old turtle was dozing. His grey beard had been secretly braided by a mischievous fairy, and his shell decorated with a pink substance that would be utter hell to wash off.

"No... I dun wanna be minor..." Genji muttered. "My role's import..."

"Wonder what he's dreaming about?" A blue fairy asked.

A green companion fairy shrugged. "I dunno. From what I'm picking up, he's scared of getting booted into obscurity while the younger generation run the shots. So, should we dye his beard now?"

"Oh, yes!" The first fairy squeaked in excitement. "Let's make it lavender! Or a really bright yellow!"

* * *

Half an hour later, Christina had gathered everyone in one room, which was apparently their designated meeting room. It was fairly large, with at least a dozen armchairs and a couple of coffee tables littered all around, and a kotatsu in the corner for... a cold meeting, maybe.

When someone had fetched Genji from the pond, the laughter simply wouldn't stop. Even now, Marisa, Christina and Anya were trying to suppress giggles every time they looked at the re-decorated turtle, whose newly pink shell was accompanied by a braided beard, split into two little ponytails and coloured magenta and a light orange for each braid.

When everyone had recovered from a possibly lethal dose of laughter (And Genji had finished cursing every fairy he saw), they had taken their seats, all of them facing Christina, who had began to recount everything she had learned from Rena's memories, as well as their past.

The young mistress talked for a while, looking perfectly in control of her emotions, although Reimu was sure she'd spotted grief or fond reminiscence once in a while.

Occasionally, Christina would pause, her eyes cloud over. After a few seconds, she would add in details to whatever was just said. Everyone present wondered if that was Rena's doing.

Once Christina had finished recounting her life, from what happened in the village up to the battle a few days ago, Christina seemed to converse with Rena mentally again.

With a sigh of annoyance, Christina added, "And it's apparently important to note that you shouldn't hold back whatever you want to say to her when she arrives."

"Well, why would we?" Marisa asked, sitting with a posture that indicated boredom. "She's got a lot to answer for, from the sounds of it."

Christina gripped the fabric of the dress she was wearing, a blue so pale it was almost white.

"Can I ask that you at least don't bombard her with insults? She doesn't deserve that." The young mistress said, and Marisa snorted.

The Daidouji's gave Marisa a threatening glare before Lyra spoke up. "If you wish it, we'll show a bit of restraint."

Christina nodded her thanks and closed her eyes. Her pale blue hair turned orange and grew, signifying Rena had taken over. The Daidouji's, plus Genji, tensed, although Reimu and Marisa were calm.

Rena opened her eyes, glancing at everyone present with an apprehensive expression. Until she saw Genji, and she noticeably battled to keep a smirk off her face.

With a frustrated growl, Genji hopped from the chair he occupied and made to leave the room. "Fine, I get it, we can't have a serious meeting when I'm around! I'll be back when I've paid back a few fairies..."

"W-wait!" Rena called after him, and everyone noticed that she no longer had a weird dual-voice. She sounded... well, they assumed Rena sounded like how she would normally sound.

"I'm sorry, I didn't... I didn't mean to offend you." Rena told the old turtle, who had paused to listen.

The old turtle could tell the girl was sincere in her apology, which was a bit surprising. What had happened to that mad girl that harboured such rage against Gensokyo?

"... Apology accepted." Genji sighed, turning to face the youkai again. She was much more successful at keeping a straight face, but her expression turned to extreme guilt and sorrow once she glanced at Lyra.

"... 'Sorry' won't be enough, will it?" Rena asked, a small hint of fear in her voice.

Lyra didn't answer immediately, she was too busy assessing Rena. She was acting very differently, completely opposite from the demanding, dangerous girl that held her sister's life in her hand.

And Lyra found that she couldn't hate this girl, but instead pitied her. Her reasons for destroying Gensokyo, while twisted, exaggerated, possibly deliberately warped, were certainly valid enough for a young life that was betrayed and crushed by the knowledge that she had let her sibling down. Even Lyra would no doubt harbour hatred after that.

"...Rena, what exactly do you plan to do now?" Tara asked, regarding Rena with an analytical gaze. Her sword was propped against her own chair, as if she was worried Rena might go berserk and attack them. Something that Rena noticed with a pang of worry. They clearly didn't trust her, and probably never would...

Still, Rena gazed determinedly back at Tara. "I... want to try and fix whatever I can. I have to try and make up for everything I did."

"W...Won't that be difficult?" Anya asked, her book strangely absent. The eye-patched girl was nervously twisting her fingers as she gazed at the floor. "Can you... can you really commit to making up for everything?"

A look of shame crossed Rena face. "I... don't know. I want to, but it feels hopeless, really. I've messed up far too much to expect anyone to forgive me."

"Christina did," Reimu pointed out. "And she was probably the worst affected in all of this."

Rena allowed herself a faint shadow of a smile. "Christina has problems not forgiving anybody, but... I suppose you do have a point."

"And I might be willing to overlook that back attack of yours," Marisa chimed in, a small grin on her face. "As long as you're willing to be the punching bag for my new spells."

"... This isn't my body, you know..." Rena said, somewhat nervously, then frowned as she seemed to lose focus of the world around her. A few seconds later, she muttered, "No, it's not fine!"

Seeing everyone stare at her, Rena shook her head. "Christina says she's okay with that arrangement, but..."

Lyra simply sighed, an amused little smile on her face. "Really, that girl... no concept of self-preservation."

Rena wasn't sure how to take the smiling Lyra. That the maid was more comfortable around her now? Rena didn't dare hope...

"Rena, you haven't properly apologised." Genji reminded her, sounding like a sage brimming with all the wisdom of the world. "I know it seems little, but you'd be surprised at how far a sincere apology can go."

Rena cast the turtle a doubtful look, but she had promised to apologise to everyone. Even if it was understandably rejected, Rena had to at least stay true to her word.

With a nervous glance to Lyra, then Tara and Anya on either side of the maid, Rena stepped in front of them, apparently struggling to decide what exactly she should say.

Finally, Rena dropped to her knees, then bowed low, pressing her forehead to the floor. It surprised the Daidouji's, seeing Rena bow like that. They had the image that Rena was incredibly proud and vain. Bowing to others wasn't really in her character... Then again, they couldn't decide just what her character was right now.

"Lyra, Tara, Anya..." Rena began, and her voice was noticeably constricted, as if she had a lump in her throat. "I... I'm truly sorry, for everything I've done. I want to fix everything, I - I'd do anything to make up for my mistakes! Please..."

Rena found she simply couldn't finish with a 'forgive me'. It was far too much to expect, and way beyond what she felt she deserved. Christina was urging her along in their shared mind, but Rena's lip simply quivered.

The Daidouji's all glanced at each other, saying nothing with words, but looks alone. It was clear that they all pitied the girl before them, and wanted to help in some way. But a tiny modicum of doubt held them back, whispering tales of betrayal.

However, Lyra wasn't one to pay heed to such thoughts. No one could act so genuinely, she decided as she moved from her chair to kneel in front of Rena, who didn't move.

"You're staining the carpet with those tears." Lyra said simply, gently lifting Rena's head by her chin. Rena stared back with watery eyes, looking disbelieving, yet hopeful.

Lyra noticed something different about Rena's gaze. Before, they held signs of madness, torment and sorrow. Now she saw a frightened little girl, who had lashed out violently in response to a violent world, and regretted the outcome.

How could that _not_ be genuine?

With a warm, welcoming smile, Lyra embraced Rena, whose eyes widened in shock. "L-Lyra?"

Tara and Anya rose from their seats, then knelt on either side of Rena. They too, embraced the repentant youkai, who seemed frozen in shock.

Finally, tears spilled from her eyes, and began to sob, overwhelmed by their forgiveness. It was surely more than she deserved, but they gave it to her anyway...

Reimu and Marisa watched the scene with somewhat different reactions. Reimu felt a pang of longing, which surprised her. The young miko was not one for wistfully dreaming of a mother's, or a sibling's, embrace. She lived well enough on her own (Well, there was Genji, but she was mostly self-reliant), and never spared a thought for her deceased parents or ancestors.

Marisa had experienced jealousy at the scene, thinking of all the times she'd wanted to tell Miss Mima that she saw her more than a mentor. The soul who had taken a volatile witch-wannabe under her wing and cared for her, she was so much like a mother, and Marisa never told her that she loved Mima, as if she were the mother Marisa never had.

When the family finally parted, Rena wiped the tears from her face, looking infinitely more calm now. As if remembering there were others with them, Rena quickly moved to face Reimu, a look of guilt on her face.

"Um, Miss Hakurei..." Rena began.

"Reimu." The shrine maiden corrected.

With a nod, Rena continued. "Reimu... I... I'm truly sorry I tried to... you know, kill you." Rena said, who was now apparently bashful.

Reimu only grinned slightly, however. "Don't worry about it, you're not the first vengeful spirit I've encountered."

Rena smiled in relief at Reimu's words, and Marisa cleared her throat rather pointedly. Rena glanced at the witch, and remembered she deserved an apology too.

"Uh, sorry I shot you," Rena said. "How's your shoulder, anyway?"

"Perfect." Marisa grunted, satisfied with her apology.

Realising that she had another person to apologise too, Rena glanced around the room, noticing her absence. "Uh, where's the berserker lady?"

An uneasy silence filled the room, and Rena wished she had just kept quiet. Clearly, something happened to her when Rena was unconscious.

Finally, Marisa simply said, "Left already."

Reimu glanced at the witch, who had that usual confident smirk of hers. The shrine maiden wondered if that was just a front.

"Well, if that's all..." Lyra said in a voice that hadn't sounded so cheerful in a long time. "Perhaps we should sit down to dinner?"

The rest of that day was very upbeat. Rena had been welcomed into the family (although whether or not she counted as the 'mistress' or not was currently in debate), and everyone seemed content to move on.

Reimu, being no stranger to brushing off incidents at their conclusion, was just glad that nothing further had happened. Sure, Mima was gone, but Marisa seemed to be quickly returning to her old self, acting loud, somewhat rude, but still enjoying herself. Reimu wasn't sure why, but that sent relief flowing through her.

At some point during dinner, Marisa had excused herself, saying something about wanting to catch up on some book she found in the library. Rena was busy trying not to feel out of place, whilst Lyra asked about what was happening with her and Christina, now that they shared a mind. Apparently, they could now switch at will, and Rena wouldn't have to store energy in order to hijack her sister's body, seeing as she had her sister's consent.

"So I suppose we're essentially the same person." Rena muttered thoughtfully. "Except I'm clearly much more beautiful."

Unheard by everyone else, Christina muttered within her mind, **"Excuse me? You're the one with the horrible orange hair that trails along the floor!"**

With a sly smile beginning to cross Rena's face, the reformed youkai said quietly, "You're right, I suppose it's atrocious. I should get rid of it."

And with that, Rena's hair simply retracted into her head, leaving her comically bald. Reimu wished she hadn't seen that, since her food now threatened to escape her throat.

**"Why do that? You're only embarrassing yourself!"** Christina pointed out in confusion, while everyone looked at Rena as if she had just turned insane again.

"Bye." Rena cheerfully waved at the table's occupants, and after a brief loss of focus, Christina awakened.

Blinking in surprise, Christina realised her sister just forced a switch, and tried to cover her bald head. "Rena, you meanie! Huh? Why won't it grow?"

Everyone present tried not to laugh at her predicament. Even Genji was grinning, although his beard was restored to normal before dinner, he still had a ludicrously pink shell.

**"Now, this is nostalgic."** Rena sighed wistfully, obviously unheard by anyone who wasn't Christina.

"I want my hair!" Christina wailed, and Reimu had to grip the table tightly to try and exert any control over her laughter.

Clearing her throat, Lyra said in a carefully controlled voice, "That's enough, Rena."

Immediately, pale brown hair erupted from Christina's scalp, reaching the girl's waist. With a sigh of relief, Christina switched the colour scheme to a shade of blue that would blend perfectly with the sky, then shortened it to shoulder length.

"Thanks," Christina breathed in relief, a mischievous smile on her face. "Hey, Rena, I found my trump card..."

"Weirdest. Dinner. Ever." Reimu stated, controlling the fading giggles. Genji nodded in agreement to Reimu's assessment.

Roughly half an hour later, Anya left to retrieve her book, which she'd left sitting on a table in the library when she'd heard news of her mistress' awakening.

And about five minutes after that, Anya had returned, sobbing like a child. Tara immediately moved to soothe girl, trying to find out what happened.

"M-m-my book's gone!" She wailed into Tara's arms, and Reimu gave Lyra a questioning glance.

"It's her prized possession," Lyra explained quietly. Reimu had seen the girl with the book, but had no idea what is was for. "She can conjure illusions with stories she's written within."

"Did you misplace it, maybe?" Tara suggested gently, her sisterly side betraying none of that jealousy she sometimes exhibited for her younger companion.

Anya sniffled, staring at Tara as if she were crazy. "I _never _misplace it! Since when have I _ever_ misplaced that book? What if someone's reading it right now!"

Christina looked thoughtful, trying to work out the mystery in her head. "Clearly, a thieving fairy is among us!"

Reimu simply sighed and got to her feet, the obvious answer having already been reached in her mind. "Follow me, I might know where it is."

Reimu led Anya,Tara and Genji to the rooms provided for them, while Lyra and Christina stayed behind to clean up.

"How w-would you know where it is?" Anya asked, curious.

"Well, you don't even have to know the culprit to find the answer," Reimu shrugged. "All the clues are painfully obvious."

"Honestly, that girl will take anything that tickles her fancy..." Genji growled in disapproval.

A minute later, they stopped outside the room designated for Marisa.

"Ladies and reptiles, I present to you," Reimu began, opening the door with a flourish, "Master thief, Marisa!"

Marisa, laying on her bed and reading the book in question, glanced at the door. "Hiya. We having a party in here?"

Anya immediately lunged forward, diving onto Marisa and wrestling the book from her surprised clutches.

"W-wow! Calm down, ya idiot!" Marisa yelled, pushing the girl off. "Jeez, you'd think I'd peeked at your diary or something."

"How much did you see?" Anya demanded, her blue eye flashing angrily. Tara stepped beside Anya, helping the girl to her feet, while also glaring at Marisa.

Marisa simply grinned in amusement. "Well, I finished 'A Boy's Love', 'Mystic Heart', and I nearly finished 'If only Tara were mi-'"

"TOO MUCH!" Anya screeched, fresh tears forming in her eyes as she suddenly bolted from the room, leaving a rather confused Marisa and Tara. Reimu had hastily stepped aside to let the fleeing girl pass.

Unsure of what to say or do, Tara glanced at Marisa with disapproval. "You really shouldn't have done that, she's pretty sensitive about her stories."

"She's sensitive about _everything!_" Marisa grumbled. "Not my fault her writing sucks."

Tara shot the young witch a cold glare. "I'd ask you to refrain from such comments while we're generous enough to provide you some hospitality. Besides, you're the one who decided to read her first stories."

Without another word, Tara left the room, passing Reimu and Genji without so much as a glance.

"Doesn't she know you're supposed to read a book from the start?" Marisa wondered aloud.

"I believe she was referring to the words Miss Anya was chanting during our encounter," Genji informed her. "From the sound of things, that book isn't top quality all the way through."

"Got that right, " Marisa snickered. "So many spelling mistakes and weird phrases. It was like she didn't think any of it through!"

Reimu moved to the foot of Marisa's bed, settling herself on it. "Well, just don't peek at it again. Sounds like that girl's written down secrets no one else should know."

Marisa simply responded with a non-commital 'meh', laying back down. Even with her full height, Marisa's toes still fell far short of Reimu's back. These beds seemed to be made for giants.

"Well, I'm just going to see if I can assist Miss Anya." Genji said, turning and gliding down the hallway, leaving the girls alone.

"...Well, you seem to be your normal self, at least." Reimu said at last, staring at the ceiling.

"Since when wasn't I?" Marisa asked with a small grin.

Reimu smirked slightly, and shrugged. "Normal-er, then."

"...We leaving tomorrow?" Marisa asked to avoid an awkward silence. "It's pretty boring 'round here."

"I guess so," Reimu replied. "Now that I know Christina's fine, and Rena won't murder me in the future..."

"Sweet! Until then..." Marisa sat up and clambered off the bed. "Let's see where the good books are..."

Reimu rolled her eyes and mental note to make sure Marisa didn't leave with anything other than her broom tomorrow.

* * *

"Can't you stay just one more day?" Christina whined.

"Hey, I have to go home sometime," Reimu said for the trillionth time. "Besides, I'd rather not intrude further."

Lyra bowed to Reimu, who was sitting atop Genji's (now normal coloured) shell and carrying her Gohei. The Hakurei Orb sat in her lap. "Have a pleasant journey back, Reimu."

"Feel free to visit any time." Tara added with her own bow. Anya, notably averting her gaze from Tara and clutching her book as if Marisa intended to grab it right now, simply gave a short wave. Nervously, however, she spoke up, "Goodbye."

Christina scowled, saying, "Well, can I come visit your shrine at least?"

"Duh. Just don't visit during Reimu's bath time," Marisa said with a smirk, already levitating a few feet with her broomstick. "Then you'll just be a bothersome idiot."

Christina took on a wistful look, staring at Reimu with a disturbingly dreamy expression. "Oh, I don't know, maybe I want to visit during bat-"

Before she could finish, her face seemd to go blank for a second, then she spoke again. Or rather, Rena spoke.

"Sorry, I'll need to remind Christina that only I make those comments." Rena said with a fake chuckle.

"That doesn't make it any less creepy."Reimu pointed out wearily. "And, given your apparent disdain for clothing, you being the source of the creepiness is so much worse."

Rena only laughed some more at that. She was already at ease with her family, obviously. Although, seeing as Lyra silenced her with a glance, it seemed Rena was loath to defy the maid.

"We'll make sure visiting hours work for everyone." Lyra said with a faint smile. "Take care, then."

With words of goodbye from everyone, Marisa and Genji (along with Reimu, obviously) took to the sky, and with a final wave, took off for the Hakurei Shrine.

_Glad to know it's all over... _Reimu thought with a smile. _Nothing left to wrap up..._

_

* * *

_

**Author's Note:**

**So, nearly at the end of this story. Just one more loose end...**

**Anyways, this chapter seems... I dunno, incomplete. Mostly because Marisa feels very inconsistent here. Hopefully it's not too bad...**


	12. Chapter 12 Extra Boss Shujiko

"Marisa, why is someone sleeping at my shrine?" Reimu asked in wonder.

"How should I know?" Marisa replied, casting an accusing glance at the shrine maiden. "You think I held a party while you were away?"

When Reimu, Marisa and Genji had returned to the shrine, they had found a girl with brown hair snoozing on the patio. It was strange enough to have a visitor that wasn't a former enemy, but to be sleeping here too?

Reimu walked over to the girl, prodding her side. "Hey! Sleeping here ain't free!"

With a grunt, the girl slowly opened her dark brown eyes, blinking up at the person who woke her.

"Sorry." The girl sat up with a stretch and a yawn, and Marisa found the girl very familiar. As she frowned in concentration, Genji yelped, "You! You're that girl who assisted Rena!"

The familiar girl glanced at Genji, tilting her head slightly. "Rena? You mean the girl with long hair? Yeah, that was me..."

"Ah! Shinjika Ishii!" Marisa declared, having wrongfully guessed her name.

"...Close enough." Shujiko Ishi sighed, and glanced at Reimu. "...You look familiar."

"She would, since she was the one Rena had kidnapped." Genji pointed out.

Shujiko studied Reimu again, a small frown on her face. "Huh... I thought she had purple hair?"

Reimu simply rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, her Gohei held in the crook of her arm, while the Orb was levitating lazily around her body. "What is it that you want?"

"Oh, right." Shujiko rose to her feet and brushed herself off. The girl had been visiting this shrine everyday since she encountered the witch and her master, hoping that they would return here. They would have to, since this was the closest shrine missing its miko, after all.

However, a quick search of the general area showed the soul was absent. "Where's the strong lady?"

Marisa looked annoyed, since the girl wasn't referring to her directly. "Right here, genius."

Shujiko gave the witch a doubtful look. "I meant the ghost. You know, the green-haired girl with the powerful laser?"

"Ya want a powerful laser?" Marisa asked coolly, the Hakkero forming in her hand. "I'll show you a powerful laser!"

Reimu cleared her throat loudly, attracting the girl's attentions. "I'd appreciate it if you took the fight elsewhere, I'm not losing my shrine again."

Marisa simply sighed. "Fine then, Shuji, up we go."

Shujiko, however, looked somewhat displeased. "No offense, miss, but there's no way a human can keep up with me."

Marisa narrowed her eyes, a dangerous aura emitting from her body. Practically pressing her face against Shujiko's, Marisa growled, "Listen here, I'm Miss Mima's greatest pupil, I've went toe to toe with youkai that even she had trouble with and won, I just saved Reimu here from a crazy psycho that nearly killed everyone in Gensokyo. Is that good enough?"

Shujiko blinked and stepped away from the angry witch as she processed what was just said. Was that really all true? Was Shujiko simply underestimating the witch?

Looking for confirmation, Shujiko turned to Reimu and Genji. "Is this all true?"

"Mostly," Reimu shrugged, stepping into her shrine. "Although she omitted the part where I've beaten both her and Mima."

"Seriously?" Shujiko asked with wide eyes. Genji nodded to confirm.

_Can she really be so strong...?_ Shujiko wondered. _I mean, she wouldn't have been kidnapped if she was that strong, right?_

Tapping her foot impatiently, Marisa said, "Hey, we fighting or what?"

"...I'd rather fight the shrine maiden." Shujiko decided, much to Marisa's utter fury.

With a very forced state of calm, Marisa walked a few paces around Shujiko, making sure the shrine wasn't in her way. With Shujiko watching in wonder, the volatile witch pointed her Hakkero at the youkai.

"Master Spark." Marisa said with barely controlled excitement. The object in her hand hummed to life, glowing a bright yellow, before firing a massive laser of equal colour.

Before Shujiko could react, the spell crashed into her, carrying the unfortunate victim a few miles away in a manner not dissimilar to how Mima had rid them of her presence before.

Reimu had stepped back outside to see what had happened, apparently in the process of changing clothes, if the hurriedly closed garb of a shrine maiden was any indication. "Marisa, what the hell? I thought I - My shrine's intact?"

"You're surprised?" Marisa asked with a teasing grin as she held up her Hakkero. "If you want a demolition job, just say so."

"Try it, and you'll not like where I shove that thing." Reimu threatened, disappearing inside once again.

_Sucks for that Shujiko girl... Well, she'll be fine eventually._ Reimu thought.

Three hours later, with Reimu now wearing more familiar clothing, albeit with a slightly different style of a sleeveless kimono and detached sleeves, and serving some more tea for her and Marisa. Genji had decided to take a snooze in one of the back rooms.

"Oh, did I tell you Alice moved into some house in the forest last week?" Marisa asked conversationally.

"Alice?"

"You know, that doll lover we met in Makai? ... Likes dolls?"

"Ah, yeah. And?"

"Just sayin'. It's odd to see someone build themselves a home in that forest, 'specially someone from Makai."

Reimu grinned slightly. "Isn't it obvious? She harbours some sort of attachment to you and wanted to get a little closer."

"Don't start with any of that crap," Marisa warned, gulping down the scalding liquid. "I got enough of that over the past few days."

Reimu gave her a quizzical look, before noticing movement from the corner of her eye. Turning her head for a better look, she was very surprised to see a very disheveled Shujiko marching up to the shrine as if she had never suffered a point blank Master Spark... Well, not counting the damaged clothing.

"...What." Reimu simply stated. Marisa glanced outside too, and her jaw dropped to her knees.

"How? Huh? You where... I - Didn't I use a Master Spark?" Marisa spluttered, drawing a confused look from Shujiko.

"Well, that is what you said just before blasting me," She said, rubbing the back of her head. "And it really hurt, too. Even more than the ghost lady's beam."

The miko and the witch couldn't understand how this girl was shrugging off a Master Spark. Granted, she was probably incapacitated by the spell, but she seemed perfectly fine now. The only person they suspected could tank a spell like that was its original creator. And if this Shujiko girl was anything like Yuuka...

"Anyways, judging from that spell, you hold considerable power," Shujiko addressed Marisa as if she were grading the witch. "However, I'm still in doubt you possess the necessary skill to survive a battle with me."

_There she goes again, acting all-mighty..._ Marisa thought in irritation. What was with this girl's ego? Even though Marisa had absolutely no trouble against this girl in their brief first encounter, Shujiko seemed confident she was far better.

"Clearly, I didn't use my full power..." Marisa growled, the Hakkero in hand again. "Let's see you handle the strongest Spark anyone's ever seen!"

"Hold it!" Reimu said in exasperation. This was going to get ridiculous real fast. "Shujiko, just fight Marisa, already. I doubt she'll fall quickly."

Shujiko stared silently at Reimu for a second, before nodding her head. "Very well... But I want to fight you too."

"A two on one?" Marisa asked, and began laughing at the idea. "Oh, this is rich! First she thinks she can beat me, and now both of us?"

Shujiko offered no response, other than to wait for an actual answer. She didn't exhibit any signs of arrogance. In fact... this odd girl seemed more desperate to Reimu.

"...Tell you what, I'll fight you," Reimu said, silencing Marisa. "And before you say anything, do note that I got to do absolutely nothing at the mansion. I want to at least make sure I don't get worf'ed."

"Get _what?_"

"...I suppose I'm fine with that." Shujiko sighed, a small modicum of doubt in her voice.

Reimu got to her feet, walking to the room Genji was occupying, as well as her equipment.

"Hey, wake up, Genji! We've got a battle to fight." Reimu said as she began slipping her enchanted cards into her detached sleeves, collar and belt.

Genji mumbled, shifting slightly. Reimu picked up her Gohei and started poking at his shell. "Hurry up, Reimu got kidnapped!"

Immediately, Genji's eyes snapped open and he practically bounced to his feet, looking livid. "Marisa! How the HELL did you manage to let them take Reim- Wha-?"

Hearing laughter from behind, Genji turned his head to see Reimu giggling at his reaction.

"...Lady Reimu, there are more effective ways of killing me than attempting to give me a heart attack." Genji sighed, unable to work up the will to scold her.

"Sorry, sorry..." Reimu said lightly, now manipulating the orb to fly above her head. "But come on, we've got an opponent to face."

Genji followed Reimu out of the room, mumbling something about 'trivial reasons' and 'practice flight so I don't have to take part in pointless fights'.

Shujiko gave a confused glance at the turtle, while a huffing Marisa said, "So,what did I do this time?"

"Nevermind." Genji sighed, spotting Shujiko and stared at her in surprise. "Wait, didn't you just..."

"She got better," Marisa sounded bitter. "I'd fix this anomaly, but Reimu's being greedy."

"Remind me how many fights you've had?" Reimu said with a rolling of her eyes. "Sheesh, I make one request and you act like I'm all entitled to everything-"

Genji simply shook his head, moving to Shujiko and whispering, "They're like a married couple already."

"Hm?" Shujiko glanced from the turtle to the bickering girls, a look of wonder on her face. "You mean, they're an item?"

The two girl's immediately rounded on her. "What was that?"

Shujiko blinked in surprise. "Uh... I meant, super best friends?"

"Hell no!" Marisa denied.

"We might as well be." Reimu shrugged, looking much calmer. Marisa simply folded her arms and continued to pout.

... Odd. Shujiko decided.

A few minutes later, the group had relocated to the skies just above the Forest of Magic. Reimu didn't feel like risking the destruction of her shrine, and they figured that falling through the tree tops would help break an inevitable fall.

Marisa, sitting on her trusty broomstick with her legs crossed and her head propped up with a fist, said, "Three, two, one, go already."

_Deja-vu..._ Genji and Shujiko thought. The familiar delivery of the line was lost to Reimu, obviously. Not that she cared.

Reimu was kneeling atop Genji's shell, the Hakurei Orb rotating around them, while her Gohei was clutched tightly in one hand. Shujiko wondered how the turtle was supposed to fly without the shrine maiden falling off.

Reimu had a confident grin on her face as she pointed her Gohei at Shujiko. "Not making the first move? Fine."

With a twitch of her free arm, three cards fell into Reimu's grasp. With a graceful flick, they were thrown into the air, defying the assault of the wind.

Shujiko simply tilted her head in wonder as she watched Reimu. What was throwing cards supposed to do? They didn't look like spell cards...

"Batter Orb!" Reimu declared, and the orb immediately stopped its patrolling, and zipped to a position several feet above Reimu.

The shrine maiden surprised Shujiko by actually leaping from the turtle, raising her Gohei to strike the orb with a powerful swing, which sent the orb hurtling towards the cards.

As the orb neared, the cards suddenly parted, each moving to a location around Shujiko, as if trying to trap her. The orb had been sent hurtling to Shujiko's left, and she felt no need to dodge.

"...I must admit, I'm confused, " Shujiko said. "I can't tell if you deliberately m-Argh!"

Something collided with her back, sending Shujiko flying forward a few feet. Teeth clenched in pain, Shujiko looked back to see the orb had just been sent flying backwards after bouncing of the youkai's back. Then she saw one of the cards move to 'block' the orb, sending it sailing right back at her.

Reimu, who had safely landed on Genji's shell again, watched with amusement. "Ha, I didn't think that would really work! It's been forever since I tried this!"

"I'm impressed that the technique is far more refined than last time." Genji commented with approval as he watched the cards intercept the orb's path to bounce back at their target. "I believe you could only use the environment to your advantage on your last try."

Shujiko found dodging the orb pretty easy, but it was also a relentless little bugger. Each time it passed, one of those cards would somehow bounce it straight back. And Shujiko was also quite sure it was getting faster ever so slightly, with each rebound.

_Interesting attack... but far too flawed._ Shujiko assessed. This technique left the Shrine Maiden wide open for an attack, and all she had to do was dodge the orb and fly for her.

Shujiko did just that, gracefully side-stepping (or gliding, in this case) the orb and rocketing at Reimu, who watched with a narrowed-eyed expression.

Extending her hand, Shujiko began to fire fairly speedy bullets, although they were still too slow for Genji, who had begun to circle away from Shujiko.

Reimu kept her balance, despite Genji's speed and slight angling as he flew. What made a girl riding a flying turtle more dangerous than ridiculous was Reimu's ability to stay rooted to the turtle's shell, even though she should have fallen long ago. Of course, some basic enchantments helped to make sure gravity turned its head for a while.

"Return!" Reimu ordered, and the orb stopped bouncing between the cards in an attempt to hit Shujiko, instead floating by her side once again.

Shujiko rained more bullets at Reimu and Genji's location, although Genji had little trouble evading. Meanwhile, the shrine maiden tapped the pursuing orb with her Gohei, which caused the orb to split into two smaller spheres.

Now, with the two orbs on either side, Genji faced Shujiko, who paused her assault, watching Reimu with interest. "Changing tactics?"

"See for yourself." Reimu said with a grin, and the orbs began to fire small, red bullets. They were roughly the same speed as Shujiko's, and just as easy for the youkai to avoid.

_So far, she hasn't exhibited anything greater than a surprise hit..._ Shujiko thought with mild disappointment._ And these bullets seem too generic to be of any real threat. Is this just a waste of time...?_

Reimu's grin only grew wider as she continued her assault. The bullet stream had only begun as a single line of fire, but as time went on, the bullets began to cover a far wider area, and Shujiko was finding it increasingly difficult to dodge them all.

Marisa kept her distance as she watched the battle. As she thought, that Shujiko girl wasn't fighting anywhere near as well as she made herself to be capable. Perhaps it was a good thing Reimu was doing the fighting, after all. This fight wouldn't be very exciting is Shujiko was this weak...

Once the barrage of bullets had almost encircled Shujiko, Reimu concentrated, adding some more of her power to the orbs. Green, missile like bullets began to emerge in conjunction with her red spread, slowly homing in to Shujiko's location.

The possibly-arrogant Shujiko managed to avoid the missile-bullets, but she only ended up getting caught up with the normal bullets. The danmaku battered at her body, slowly forcing her towards the tree tops. Just before she was submerged in leaves, Reimu halted her attack, allowing Shujiko to regain her balance before she fell.

"How's that? Think you can win now?" Reimu asked cockily.

Shujiko simply clutched at herself, panting. The bullets really stung, but this far from the worst she'd endured. A smile slowly spread across her face as she stared up at Reimu.

"Not bad!" Shujiko called, a hint of excitement in her voice. "I'm gonna get a little more serious! Please don't disappoint me!"

_...What's with her?_ Reimu, Genji and Marisa thought in unison. Her expression gave the impression that Shujiko enjoyed taking a beating, and Reimu hoped that wasn't the case.

Shujiko extended both hands towards Reimu. "Be careful, this can be somewhat tricky!"

Two long, viridian coloured beams shot from her palms and snaked their way towards Reimu and Genji, who immediately set off to avoid them.

Reimu watched the lasers, noting that, although their movements seemed utterly random, they were still vaguely tracking her location.

"Stay sharp, Genji! These laser's aren't through with us yet!" Reimu warned, her orbs beginning to hum with power as they began to resume their showering of bullets.

Shujiko ascended quickly, adding a fresh new barrage of her own bullets to meet Reimu's. Unlike before, Shujiko fired plenty to form a surprisingly effective wall, shielding her from Reimu's attack.

Not one to be deterred by such a thing, Reimu simply added her own power to the orb again. It was a good thing her spiritual power was astronomical, otherwise Reimu wouldn't be nearly as fearsome, despite her relative inexperience.

Bigger, yellow bullets were added to Reimu's assault, signifying that she was now prioritising power. Her bullets slowed, but spread slightly wider, while her stronger bullets were focused on the middle of her bullet spread.

Shujiko gritted her teeth as she tried to keep the yellow bullets away. It was no good, they were simply barreling past her defenses. Forced to evade, Shujiko's own assault was quickly overwhelmed once again.

However, Reimu and Genji were shocked to see Shujiko was now dodging the bullets. Not easily, but still only escaping with some grazes. It was like she'd gained a monumental level in skill within a few moments.

Unluckily for Shujiko, Reimu wasn't unprepared. While surprised to see her opponent suddenly evade with such ease, she still had the power to alter her orb's shot type. If power was now useless, why not use speed instead?

The orb's temporarily stopped shooting, giving Shujiko a small breather while Reimu once again focused her power over the orbs.

With the brief respite, Shujiko inhaled deeply, then shot two more erratic laser-snakes. The other two had been flailing around uselessly, instead of simply gunning for Reimu. Definitely a glaring flaw in her attack, but Shujiko could compensate with numbers... and her indomitable will.

Normally, Shujiko wouldn't exert herself so far. Her ability to achieve virtually anything through willpower alone was both amazing and a curse. Shujiko simply couldn't stand a foregone conclusion, it erased any meaning or joy to the events leading to the ultimate goal, and aiming for less than victory was essentially the same problem for a less glorified target.

And when Shujiko simply didn't exert her will at all... Well, everything lost meaning if she wasn't trying her best. No matter what, Shujiko could never find an opponent who could overcome her willpower. But this shrine maiden... She had lasted far longer than most others. Perhaps she was the one who could defeat her? No, that was too much to hope... Still, it couldn't hurt to test her a little before she truly went all out, right?

Reimu had fired up her orbs again. This time, the bullet spread extended almost 180 degrees in front of Reimu, firing at far faster speeds than before, but Shujiko had begun her own shooting, meeting Reimu's bullets with an almost equal speed, as well as her two new lasers snaking their way closer to Reimu with much more controlled precision.

"Grr... She seems to get stronger the longer we fight..." Reimu muttered, as Genji moved once again to avoid the lasers. In order to avoid her bullets striking Marisa, Reimu halted her danmaku assault once again, allowing Genji to better read Shujiko's bullet patterns.

Reimu glanced around, making sure the snakes from before weren't trying to sneak attack her. The first two Shujiko had fired were now aiming for them too. This looked troublesome...

"Any ideas, Lady Reimu?" Genji grunted, a bullet just barely missing his head.

"Hm... Let's try 'Plan A' again." Reimu muttered, and her orbs fused back together in a flash of violet light, the orb now returned to its proper size.

Using the Gohei gripped tightly in her hand, Reimu directed the orb to a position she could easily swing at, and launched the orb at Shujiko, the bullets bouncing harmlessly of her ancestral weapon.

_That again?_ Shujiko halted her bullets, and dodged the orb. She turned to face it, making sure it wasn't going to return.

With her back turned, Reimu could focus on throwing more cards into the air, allowing her to greatly increase the effectiveness of her orb.

Procuring over a dozen more of the cards from her clothing, Reimu scattered them to the winds, directing them all over the battlefield. Shujiko noticed the new card placements, and couldn't help but smile slightly, her brown eyes shining more than usual.

"This won't work again, Miss Hakurei!" Shujiko said as she effortlessly dodged the orbs rebound.

"Then let's add a little twist!" Reimu called back, exerting just a little more power. Even for her, Reimu should have been feeling something from using up quite a bit of her power, but Reimu felt fine, and didn't note any oddities.

The orb split apart as soon as it struck a waiting card, causing two orbs to barrel towards Shujiko, who dodged them both easily. Those two orbs then split into another two orbs each as they hit the cards, and Shujiko found herself trapped with a vortex of tiny little orbs within seconds.

Now Reimu was slowly moving the cards closer and closer to Shujiko, making it far more difficult to find an opening through the rampaging orbs. Despite being the size of pebbles, the orbs were effectively trapping Shujiko, who watched in wide - eyed anticipation.

"Finishing Strike: Hakurei Hurricane!" Reimu declared in an attempt to not look like she was winging her assault right now. "Divine Victory is in my-"

"Behind you, you dumbass!" Marisa yelled, catching Reimu off guard. Before Reimu could respond, something slammed into her back, causing her to yell (More in surprise than in pain, really) and began to fall.

"Lady Reimu!" Genji yelled, attempting to dive after her, but the laser that struck Reimu had circled around Genji, trapping him, while the other three followed after Reimu.

The orbs immediately stopped and dropped, slowly forming into one big Hakurei orb as they fell. Shujiko watched Reimu fall with mingled feelings. Gratitude, that she had lasted so long and forced Shujiko to act somewhat seriously, but also disappointment that the young shrine maiden couldn't bring Shujiko to use her full power.

Reimu fell through the tree tops, the laser's following after. Shujiko would use them to help break her fall, and slowly began to descend after her.

"She's great..." Shujiko commented to Genji as he struggled to save Reimu. "Pretty strong and versatile... Too bad she can't fly, or else she might've been able to last a little longer. Oh, she's fine, by the way."

"Damn right!" Reimu called, much to everyone's surprise. Rising from the treetops, without any support, was Reimu, who had apparently gained the power of flight at some point in the last few seconds.

Marisa watched in awe as Reimu rose, wondering how she could have managed that. Reimu may have great potential, but you don't simply pull flight out of your ass when you needed it!

"L-lady Reimu?" Genji muttered. "When did you..."

Reimu simply shrugged. "I dunno. I have an idea, but that can wait 'till later."

Turning her attention to Shujiko, Reimu said, "So, I hope you weren't going to count me out so soon! Didn't I say I've taken on gods and other assorted beings?"

Shujiko smiled, her face expressing immense excitement and enjoyment at this turn of events. "Well, you can fly now. Good, but can you overcome my willpower with that alone?"

"'Course not." Reimu replied. "But I do have the power to kick youkai ass, so I think I have a shot."

"Fine then!" Shujiko's lasers disappeared as she rose to Reimu's level. "If you really have beaten god's or whatever in the past, you won't mind if I try to win, would you?

"Bring it." Reimu said with a grin, and faced Genji. "Thanks for your help, Genji, but I think I can do the rest alone."

With a nod, Genji fleew to Marisa's side, turning to watch the upcoming battle.

"Hope you have fun becoming useless." Marisa commented casually, watching Reimu with some wonder.

"Hope you enjoy your Reimu-related fantasies." Genji replied calmly, causing Marisa to glare at Genji with enough darkness to startle even Shikieiki.

Shujiko stared at Reimu a few seconds more, desperation now in her eyes. "Reimu Hakurei... Please, do not lose to me. My hopes have risen dramatically, I don't want to be disappointed."

Reimu gave Shujiko a confused glance, but her grin returned a second later. "No problem. Losing isn't my thing."

Shujiko smiled and gave a small nod. the atmosphere had become somewhat odd, as if beating Shujiko would provide insane amounts of emotional relief for the youkai. What exactly was her problem, wanting to lose so badly, anyway?

The wind picked up somewhat, and Reimu could feel Shujiko's energy picking up. The wind seemed to be converging around the youkai, and Reimu gripped her Gohei tightly as she mentally called for her fallen orb.

Shujiko opened her eyes, and Reimu noticed that they, as well as her hair, was beginning to shine a dull yellow. It was almost as if she were transforming, and Reimu briefly wondered if Rena had randomly possessed the girl.

"I'm coming at you with all my strength," Shujiko warned, her normal sounding voice indicating that no possession had taken place. "Don't think it'll be easy to knock me out. I'll keep coming and coming, never stopping."

"That so?" Reimu said confidently. "Then I'll just knock you down each and every time until you stay down!"


	13. Chapter 13 The Decisive Battle

The two combatants stared at each other silently for a few moments. Reimu wondered just how much stronger Shujiko had become, while Shujiko wondered if Reimu was strong enough to match her. It was important for Reimu to be powerful. Not to survive, but to prove to Shujiko that she wasn't completely invincible when serious.

Reimu's Orb had found itself through the canopy of the tree tops and was drifting around her body, slightly smudged with dirt. The cards thrown earlier were still suspended in the air, unmoving. With any luck, Reimu would see some more use out of them, otherwise she would have to rely solely on the Orb...

"This seems a hell of a lot more serious than it should be," Marisa commented. "It feels like we're watching the finale to some epic conflict..."

"Clearly, this means a lot to Miss Ishi." Genji muttered.

Pointing her Gohei at Shujiko, a grinning Reimu asked, "I feel I should warn you; changing your hair doesn't make you stronger."

Shujiko merely smiled, and extended her hand. "If you're ready..."

Before Reimu could reply, Shujiko unleashed her assault, and it was definitely a marked improvement from her last bullet spread. It seemed to literally form a wall as it rocketed at Reimu, who quickly dropped from the air, and seemingly struggled to regain flight once she barely avoided getting blasted.

_Still a bit awkward, this..._ Reimu thought with annoyance. She would need to master flying pretty quickly, or else Shujiko had already won. And Reimu didn't feel like losing, whether this was a serious fight or not.

Stopping her current attack, Shujiko quickly lowered herself to Reimu's level, and began to circle her at high speed.

Reimu watched the blur that was Shujiko pass her sight every second, anticipating some attack. Sure enough, a bullet flew at her from the right, which Reimu barely swatted with her Gohei. Another one was blocked by the orb.

Reimu tried ascending, but Shujiko kept pace with the novice flyer, continuously circling and shooting single bullets. It was almost like she were toying with Reimu, and the shrine maiden didn't like that.

As a bullet grazed her leg, Reimu had enough. She was going to take control of the battle again.

Concentrating on six of the cards floating in various areas of the sky, she carefully positioned them around Shujiko and Reimu's position, hoping they would be unnoticed. At the same time, Reimu tried deter Shujiko from attacking by having the orb shoot bullets along her flight path, to little avail.

"Is this all you can do?" Shujiko asked. "Maybe I am too strong after all..."

"Try saying that after I take you out!" Reimu retorted, her cards finally in position. A bullet struck her shoulder, but she withstood it. If all went to plan, Reimu wouldn't need to take another hit.

"Freezing!" Reimu yelled, and the cards began to glow a deep purple, dark tendrils of electricity joining the cards to create a circular barrier around them.

Shujiko stopped when she realised what had happened. "When did you...?"

A bright light shot out of the cards, forming a perfect white circle within the perimeter of the cards. It passed through both Reimu and Shujiko, yet only Shujiko found herself frozen in place.

Reimu rose a little higher in the air, a confident smirk once again adorning her face.

"Not bad, huh? I've got a bunch of spells to try out, and here comes one of my favourites!"

The Hakurei Orb moved in front of Reimu, spinning rapidly. Shujiko watched with a curious expression as the orb began to glow a bright, shining white.

Reimu moved back a few paces, winding back the hand the held her gohei. "Hakurei Beam!"

Reimu struck the orb, and a white beam of light blasted towards Shujiko, who was engulfed within a second.

While not as strong as a Master Spark, Reimu's 'Hakurei Beam' was still developed to take out youkai. Of course, Reimu had modified it to a non-lethal spell, disliking the idea of killing anyone.

Since Shujiko was a youkai, that had to have dealt major damage, especially since she had no way of defending herself. When the light cleared, Shujiko was indeed slumped, still suspending by Reimu's freezing spell.

"... Yeah, maybe I overdid it..." Reimu muttered, slowly descending. "Hey, uh, Shujiko? You still alive?"

In response, Shujiko twitched and groaned. While Reimu was relieved to see that she hadn't somehow re-lethalised the spell, the shrine maiden was also shocked to see Shujiko was still conscious. After all, that spell was strong enough to keep Mima down for at least an hour!

Reimu recalled earlier, when Shujiko had returned to the shrine, despite getting Spark'ed by Marisa a few hours previously. Your average youkai would take about three days to recover from such a spell, and yet Shujiko was perfectly fine!

"How do you do that?" Reimu asked in wonder. Shujiko shook her head, gazing at Reimu with a steadily clearing expression.

"My will power." Shujiko replied, a hint of bitterness in her voice. "If I want to, I can ignore my injuries and keep fighting through sheer will. In other words, cheating."

"Cheating?" Reimu repeated in confusion. "Come on, that's actually a useful skill to have! Especially when you've got trigger happy witches flying around!"

Shujiko simply shook her head again, planting her hands on the circle of light that trapped her. "It's not that great if I want a challenge. No matter how much stronger someone is, my will can far outlast them. There's no uncertainty, only inevitability."

Reimu listened with a small frown, getting a small idea of what Shujiko was like. Someone who loved a challenge, but didn't like a clear victory. And if her power went against her personality...

"Still... You've done well." Shujiko continued, a small smile on her face. "You almost knocked me out at the peak of my resolve. I think... I'm content, even if I win."

"...That won't do," Reimu said, and Shujiko glanced at her in surprise. "You're resigning yourself to winning, aren't you? Don't you think I have any more spells to use?"

Shujiko looked at the shrine maiden in wonder. It was true, after all. Every time Shujiko thought Reimu had reached her limit, the miko simply upped her game. Even now, Reimu may still have plenty of tricks up those armpit-exposing sleeves of hers.

"Very well." Shujiko said, a fire burning in her bright eyes. "It seems my victory is still undecided. If that's the case..."

Through some more exertion of her will, Shujiko began to exude a pale aura, which began to crack the freezing spell.

Reimu backed up, shocked to see Shujiko was undoing the freezing spell. _She can even break enchantments through will? Heh... I swear, she's like Yuuka without the insanity._ Reimu thought.

The enchantment broke completely, and the cards fell uselessly to the forest, their magic completely spent. Reimu called the orb to her side once again, facing the freed Shujiko.

"Even if I win, I'll know that the outcome was unclear. Please, fight me with all your strength!" Shujiko practically pleaded.

"Jeez, she won't stay down..." Marisa whistled in surprise. "She even broke Reimu's spell..."

"Hm." Genji muttered, watching the fight closely. Something had been nagging at Genji's mind for a while now. Reimu's spells seemed too... refined. Reimu never really trained, which was a waste of her vast potential, so her spells, while insanely strong, were almost always sloppy or weakened from lack of use. But Reimu was fighting like an expert. He hadn't seen such mastery of the Hakurei abilities since her great-great-great-grandmother...

Reimu simply grinned, calling more cards to surround Shujiko. "Well, if you wanna get obliterated, I guess I'll oblige!"

Shujiko noticed the cards coming this time, and was prepared for any other freezing techniques. Not that they would help much, since Shujiko could easily break free before Reimu fired another blast.

Instead, Shujiko took the offensive. Extending both her arms to either side, the youkai of will began to form numerous lasers, which arced towards Reimu.

She watched them approach, waiting for the right moment. There was at least eight lasers converging from all directions, except the front. That would be her opening.

Just before she was engulfed in the spell, Reimu shot forward, the Hakurei Orb held in front almost like a shield. Shujiko avoided by ascending quickly. However, her hair brushed against something, and when she tried to brush it away, was met with a sharp jolt.

Reimu grinned in triumph as one of her cards had attached itself to Shujiko. On its own, it would provide only mild discomfort, but if she could get the rest...

Well, she could worry about that when the laser's where gone. Instead of disappearing from the collision like she'd hoped, the lasers had simply been momentarily tangled, and were now tracking Reimu.

Reimu made a sharp turn upwards, moving to face the oncoming lasers with a counter attack.

_This better work..._ "Barrier Orb!"

The Hakurei Orb glowed brightly once again, enveloping Reimu and solidifying barely a second before the laser's hit.

Reimu's shield spell managed to repel the lasers, and even forced them to dissipate, but when Reimu reverted the Orb to its normal size, could feel the power was quickly draining from the tool. That wasn't good, once the orb had used up all its stored energy, Reimu would be nearly defenceless...

Shujiko had tried to pull the card from her hair, but it refused to budge. Deciding to simply ignore it for now, she watched as Reimu just blocked her lasers._ Just how many things can that orb do?_ She wondered in fascination.

Watching each other carefully, Reimu tried to will the next closest card to Shujiko's location. It was tough work, drawing less power from the orb to try and reserve energy, but thankfully, Shujiko saw no need to move just yet.

With a confident smile, Shujiko extended both arms to either side, then began to swing her arms, a trail of bullets flying towards Reimu.

It was easy enough to sidestep them, but Reimu noticed that the bullets simply stopped moving, and after a few moments of evading the bullets, Reimu realised that she was completely surrounded by them, with next to no space to move without touching them.

"This is my ultimate magic spell." Shujiko explained brightly. "To make me use this means that you almost beat me. Thank you for a great match, Reimu Hakurei."

"You sound like you've already won," Reimu said with a large grin. "Don't count me out just yet."

Shujiko raised her eyebrows in wonder. "Are you planning something with this card?" She pointed to the card still plastered to her hair. "I'm afraid it's not doing much, and nor will it ever."

_She really hasn't noticed?_ Reimu realised. During her evading, she had slowly willed another four cards to stick themselves to the back of Shujiko's clothing. three on her back, and one on her skirt. She had planned to stick more to her, but Shujiko would no doubt win if Reimu wasted any more time. The shrine maiden knew she had to get out of this minefield...

"Escape is quite impossible," Shujiko informed her. "Each of those bullets are highly volatile, it wouldn't take more than three or four to end this."

"So, I'm supposed to give up?" Reimu asked.

Shujiko simply shrugged. "If you want, although, this isn't exactly my finishing move."

Shujiko held both her hands towards Reimu, palms pointed outward. "With nowhere to run, my final attack will hit you head-on. Combine that with the bullets struck by my attack, and the only person who would remain conscious would be a god."

"Sounds powerful." Reimu said calmly, although she was somewhat worried now. Even though there was no lethal force involved, these spells still hurt, as did the idea of losing. Reimu considered trying to initiate her counter attack now, but with these bullets in the way, she may not be able launch an attack strong enough to keep Shujiko down...

"I like to think it is, even with a lack of practice." Shujiko replied, a pale yellow light gathering around her hands, growing larger by the second. Reimu brainstormed some way to get out of this with as little damage as possible. If she used the orb to block, she would no doubt completely drain its energy, and she'd have no reliable method of attack left, but Reimu didn't have any other idea of how to last.

_Just fly._ Her mind suggested. _In fact, do more than that. You should transcend this plane._

"What...?" Reimu muttered to herself, wondering if that was really her own idea forming in her head. It sounded absolutely ludicrous too. Maybe she just went insane from imminent defeat?

Shujiko fired her spell, which roared towards the hapless miko, swallowing the volatile bullets in its path, creating tiny explosions that would detonate any other nearby bullets, forming mess of explosive magic to surround the beam.

"Dear god..." Marisa muttered. "That's one of the coolest attacks I've seen in a while..."

"THAT'S got your attention?" Genji snapped. "You do realise Lady Reimu just took a face full of that, right?"

Marisa simply nodded. "Obviously. It's not like it's gonna kill her, though. Calm down."

Genji couldn't comprehend how anyone would be calm after witnessing such an attack. Maybe he was just over-protective, but there was no way Reimu was staying conscious after that!

In fact, when the lights and smoke finally cleared, it became apparent that Reimu wouldn't even exist after such an attack. Not a trace remained of the shrine maiden, which shocked everyone present.

After several long, painful moments, Genji exploded. "You fool! You killed Lady Reimu! You've killed us all!"

Marisa gripped her broom tightly, disbelieving. "No way. No way in hell did she kill Reimu. It's impossible! It was non lethal!"

Shujiko herself looked terrified at what she'd done. She had frozen in place, scanning the air before her, seeing not a trace of her opponent.

"...Oh god, I overdid it..." Shujiko muttered, fear gripping her tightly. "I didn't mean to, I thought I - I'm not that strong!"

"Calm down." A voice spoke in her ear, and Shujiko whirled around in fright, looking for the source of the voice. Nothing.

"I'm right here." The teasing voice said, directly behind Shujiko. Turning, she saw nothing still.

Genji watched the girl with confusion, wondering what she was looking for. "... Has she snapped?"

"Yeah, 'cause she just realised that I'm gonna kill her a trillion times before this place collapses." Marisa growled, Hakkero in hand. "And even when it does, I'll just kick her ass all over hell!"

"That's very considerate, Marisa." That voice spoke, this time within Marisa and Genji's ear-shot, causing them both to flinch.

The two scanned the area, looking for whoever spoke, but saw no one. What was going on?

"Wait... didn't that voice sound like Reimu?" Genji muttered with a confued frown, and Marisa glanced at him, eyebrow raised.

"Huh? Come to think of it..."

"Where are you!" Shujiko called, scared of what was happening right now.

With a giggle, the voice of Reimu replied, "Right here."

The source couldn't be traced, and it was frustrating Shujiko. Was this her ghost talking or something?

Suddenly, a single, red bullet formed in the air in front of Shujiko, striking her stomach before the youkai could react. Where the hell did that come from?

"Heh, so I can shoot in this weird place too? Neat." The voice commented.

Shujiko only looked on in confusion, as did Genji and Marisa. From the sounds of things, There was an invisible Reimu flying around, but they simply couldn't pinpoint her location. It was as if she instantly flitted from place to place.

"A...Are you dead?" A nervous Shujiko asked, and Reimu's voice simply laughed.

"'Course not! I just got outta the way! Still figuring out how, though."

Everyone present was terribly confused. Reimu simply 'got out of the way'? How the hell did that work?

"Come on, turtle, surely you've heard of something like this before!" Marisa asked Genji, who simply shook his head in wonder.

"I wish I did, but this completely new..."

"Let's see... To return, do I just..." Reimu slowly blinked into existence behind Shujiko. "Ah, there we go!"

Shujiko whirled around in shock, seeing Reimu had returned, and began stuttering. "R-Reimu! H-how did - what - how?"

Reimu scratched the back of her head thoughtfully, looking a bit unsure herself. "I dunno, I just did the first thing that came to mind and flew."

"...You flew." Shujiko repeated in disbelief. "Despite being completely trapped by my spell?"

Reimu simply nodded, clearly not thinking too hard about it. After a moment, Marisa decided she didn't want to either. Genji however, was determined to get to the bottom of this.

"Lady Reimu, how could you have 'flown' anywhere? You were stuck, weren't you?"

"Why are we stopping the battle over this? Can't we figure it out later?" Reimu grumbled, looking annoyed at the unnecessary attention to a single technique.

Shujiko looked surprised for a moment, then smiled slightly. "Very well, I'm happy to finish our duel."

"But... Lady Reimu..." Genji protested weakly, and received a flick on the head from Marisa.

"Just shut it, already. No one cares how she did it." Marisa chided, and Genji simply huffed in defeat.

Reimu and Shujiko moved several feet apart, facing each other. From the looks in their eyes, it was clear that they both intended to end the battle now, with a single test of strength. Such a thought seemed ridiculous to everyone but Reimu. After all, Shujiko could probably will herself to become all-powerful and decimate Reimu. What was she supposed to do in this situation...?

Shujiko extended both hands forward again, while Reimu pointed her Gohei at Shujiko. For what felt like hours, the combatants simply stared at each other. The youkai of will wondered if Reimu would attempt that disappearing trick again, but she could see from Reimu's expression that she wouldn't, somehow. The why for that could come later. Right now, Shujiko had a match to win... or lose.

"This ends now!" Shujiko yelled, and a pale, yellow light began to form in her hands. Reimu grinned as she swished her Gohei down.

"Yes, I agree!"

The cards stuck to Shujiko simultaneously unleashed the magic energy stored within them, wracking her body with several jolts of purple, electrical magic.

As the pain washed over her body, Shujiko's spell faded, and Reimu saw her chance. The magic would keep Shujiko incapacitated just long enough...

Reimu called her orb in front of her, placing both hands on it. The orb hummed to life as Reimu prepared her final assault.

"This is gonna hurt a little!" Reimu called to the distracted Shujiko, who was trying to remove the cards from her hair and clothing. "But don't worry, I promise this'll win me the fight!"

Bright white light exploded from the orb, forming a beam that washed over Shujiko. Reimu directed the beam towards the forest, forcing Shujiko through the treetops. While it may seem cruel, Shujiko was a youkai, after all. Such a fall wouldn't be lethal, and besides, she could potentially will herself conscious within seconds if necessary. Reimu was trying to prevent that.

Marisa and Genji watched as Reimu continued to pour her magic into the beam. The witch looked on with approval, while Genji winced somewhat at the show of force.

"Lady Reimu, I think you've won!" Genji called, and Reimu stopped her attack, panting. She'd drawn a lot of her own magical energy to power that attack as far as she could without switching to lethal force. It had been a while since she'd used that much power... and remembered how little it affected that damn flower youkai...

Reimu watched the treetops for several moments, waiting to see if Shujiko would emerge. When it became apparent that nothing was coming up, Reimu descended into the forest itself.

"Shujiko?" Reimu called once she landed. It didn't take long to see Shujiko sprawled on the ground, clearly out cold. Her hair had returned to its natural brown colour, which Reimu took to mean meant she had won.

Marisa and Genji followed soon after, looking at Reimu's handiwork.

"Man, I knew you were tough, but that was almost brutal." Marisa whistled. "Almost like Miss Mima was influencing that whole fight!"

"...Wait, Mima...?" Genji muttered thoughtfully, brow furrowed in concentration. It felt like the answer to Reimu's display of power was incredibly obvious, but lingering just outside his grasp...

"Let's worry about my awesomeness later." Reimu sighed, walking over to the unconscious youkai. "Better take her back to the shrine before some weirdo comes along."

While Shujiko's body was remarkably undamaged from the fight (Well, most likely horribly bruised from the fall, but that would heal quickly enough), her clothing had taken a hit. The skirt and most of her top had been wrecked, but luckily, she was wearing shorts and the top half of her shirt remained.

Carefully picking the youkai up, Reimu placed her own Genji's shell, and the group flew back to the Shrine.

* * *

Shujiko blearily opened her eyes, staring at an unfamiliar wooden ceiling. Rubbing her eyes, the youkai sat up slowly, noticing that she was lying in a futon. She was quite sure she didn't own one.

Come to think of it, Shujiko didn't live in this place, either. It was a small room that only held a chest of drawers. Shujiko frowned, wondering where she was, when she remembered what had happened just before falling asleep.

Eyes widening in shock, Shujiko was motionless for a long time, processing what had happened.

Finally, Shujiko leaped to her feet, taking no notice of the bland, white night gown someone dressed her in. She had to find Reimu immediately!

Dashing out of the room, Shujiko found herself in the front room of the Hakurei Shrine. On the patio just outside, was the shrine maiden herself, sweeping away at a few leaves that had drifted from the nearby trees.

"Reimu!" Shujiko nearly flitted to Reimu's side, causing the miko to flinch in surprise. Clutching the broom tightly, Reimu let out a small breath.

"Shujiko! You're finally awake, huh?"

"How long was I out?" Shujiko asked.

"About two days." Reimu answered. "I was starting to worry I'd went too far."

"Two days..." Shujiko muttered in disbelief. "So... you really won?"

Reimu shrugged. "I guess I did."

Shujiko was silent for several seconds, feeling overwhelmed by shock and happiness. At long last, someone who not only could match her will, but defeat her...?

To Reimu's complete surprise, Shujiko practically tackled her to the ground, gripping her torso tightly as they fell. Reimu banged her head of the patio, leaving her head lolling while Shujiko hugged the shrine maiden tightly.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you so much! That was the most fun I've ever had in my life and it was awesome and I probably love you now and I wanna be friends and - Uh, Reimu?"

Having just noticed she knocked the shrine maiden senseless, Shujiko began to panic, pulling Reimu to a sitting position and shaking her violently.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I didn't mean it I swear it was an accident I only wanted to hug and please forgive me-"

"My, I never imagined you could speak so quickly." Genji chuckled from somewhere behind, and Shujiko fearfully faced the turtle.

"Best to let her lie down until she recovers." Genji advised. "Keep shaking her and she'll be sure to hold a grudge."

Shujiko immediately let the shrine maiden go, only to yelp in surprise when Reimu slumped forward onto her. Genji chuckled at how embarrassed the youkai had become, and helped carry the shrine maiden inside.

A few moments later, they were both sitting on the patio, looking out towards the stone steps that led down to the village.

"... Sorry." Shujiko mumbled.

"Don't worry about it, a bump on the head means little to that girl." Genji reassured her.

Shujiko was relieved to know she hadn't caused any serious harm to the shrine maiden. How ironic would it be, to defeat her with a bump to the head after that battle?

"Oh! By the way, what was that trick she used to turn invisible like that?" Shujiko asked, and Genji frowned thoughtfully. "It was stronger than any cloaking enchantment I've heard of..."

"It's... a bit odd." Genji said. "You remember the ghost, Mima?"

Shujiko nodded. How could she forget someone who blew her a mile away?

"Well, to resolve a recent incident, Mima had to pass on her 'existence' to Lady Reimu," Genji explained. "It was to counter the effect of a lethal curse, but I wonder if something else was passed on?"

Shujiko listened, intrigued by Genji's theory. "Miss Mima was powerful, and possessed great control over her power. During your scuffle, Reimu demonstrated far more control over her power than before. That... cloaking-like spell, it reminds of me of a ghost who fades in and out of sight."

"...So, Reimu's part ghost now?" Shujiko asked in wonder. Genji shook his head.

"I wouldn't say that... more like, Reimu inherited ghost-like abilities." The old turtle sighed, wishing he had more knowledge on this subject. All he could compare Reimu to was literal half human, half-ghost people, who were incredibly rare and didn't really inhabit Gensokyo. He was quite sure Reimu was different to that.

Shujiko glanced back at the room where Reimu lay, wondering what it felt like to have a ghost inside you. Well, at least Shujiko could say she technically got that match with the ghost now.

"Say, Miss Ishi, I recall you wanted to lose very badly." Genji said, changing the topic somewhat. "Why is that?"

"Ah, that..." Shujiko explained to the turtle about her love of battles with an unclear victor, and utter disdain for foregone conclusions. At some point, Shujiko had settled for someone defeating her at full strength, just so she didn't feel omnipotent.

"Not a fan of power, huh?" Genji said lightly. "Well, I think there's a couple more opponents who would defeat you, but to fight them would be the exact opposite of fun."

Shujiko smiled in amusement. "Oh? I'm sure I'd find something to like."

"Maybe, if you want to either die or be driven to insanity." A voice grumbled behind them, and the two looked back to see Reimu had awoken, wincing and rubbing the back of her head.

"So, Shujiko, why exactly did you have to tackle me?" Reimu asked, and Shujiko blushed, mumbling her apologies and hoping Reimu wasn't conscious to hear the rambling from earlier.

* * *

It was roughly two months after the 'Daidouji' Incident, and things were pretty much normal. Well, as normal as Gensokyo could get anyway. A few notable differences being that Mima was absent from the shrine, Shujiko visited occasionally, fulfilling the obligation of donating no money, and Marisa seemed to act slightly more friendly to Reimu.

Christina had dropped by the shrine at some point, accompanied by Tara. The young youkai had happily chatted about how much happier the Mansion had become, now that Rena was acting as a loving sister, instead of a secret harbinger of doom, death and destruction. Rena emerged at some point to offer more apologies, but Reimu simply waved them away. No point dwelling on the past, after all.

The two (or three, depending on how you looked at it) stayed until evening, where Tara had to practically drag a protesting Christina back home, much to Reimu's amusement. That girl always seemed so clingy...

Later that night, Reimu sat on the patio, gazing at the moon, shining brightly over the shrine. The cold breeze chilled her bare feet, but she paid it no mind.

_It feels like it's been too long since something happened..._ Reimu thought. _I actually bother to train a little and nothing happens. Figures._

Reimu had been attempting to refine her flying skills for the past two months, and while she had become quite a skilled flier, she simply couldn't remember how she flew into another plane of existence. At least, that's what she referred to that trick as: Flying into some alternate dimension where her physical body couldn't be perceived or interacted with, yet she still had a presence that affected the world around her. And it still needed a name, too...

_Well, it'll come to me some day..._ Reimu shrugged, getting to her feet, turning and walking back inside for some sleep. As she closed her shrine, a small billow of smoke rose in the distance. Unnoticed by Reimu, who had by now crawled into bed, the smoke steadily grew higher, slowly spreading across the sky. While difficult to tell in the night sky, the smoke appeared to be some sort of pale, red colour.

* * *

**Hm, I wonder if I should have put this and CH12 together... When separated they seem pretty short...**

**Anyways, Tsukuribanashi is now finished! While there'a a few more stories I have related to events in this fic, like backstory for the OC's, or trying out one of those 'guy drops into Gensokyo' stories, but I think I'll wait until I try out a few other ideas.**

**To everyone that read this, I hope you enjoyed it. I'm aware that compared to most others, my writing sucks, especially with description, but if it was at least adequate, I'm happy.**


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